So what? Those other marketing channels, like TV, newspaper advertisements, and so on, aren't free. And neither is Facebook.

I'm sure that Mark Cuban's hockey team drives a lot of viewers to watch TV. Does that mean Mark should get to advertise for free on television? That's not how the networks see it. [edit: this is a really bad example]

It's funny that we've gone from being outraged about spam and all-pervasive advertising, to being outraged that spammers have to actually pay to send the stuff.

I think he would have less complaints if Facebook paid his team the amount of money TV networks pay for sports rights.

That's a pretty insightful comment. I think it really gets to the heart of the issue-- Mark brings a lot of value to the TV networks, but not that much to Facebook. And Facebook knows it.

How doesn't keeping fans on the Facebook website not compare equally to keeping fans watching a specific TV station? The value is there.

Brands need a Facebook presence more than Facebook needs a brand to drive and keep a user on Facebook is why brands will never get kickbacks for maintaining their Facebook page.