Laws regarding website and web community

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[dannyboy83]

Hello,

I am currently researching and planning an online community for my employers, who are a software company in the UK.

The community will include a blog and forum among other things.

I was looking for some advice on what sort of rules and legislation I should consider before launch.

I've had a look at various 'Terms and conditions' and 'Terms of service' on large copmpanies' websites, but was wondering if anyone had any hands-on experience.

Should we write up a terms of use and get it checked by a lawyer?

Do you have seperate rules for florum positng and blog comments or is it all incorporated into a main document?

What are the main points to cover?

Many thanks in advance,

Dan

[encyclo]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld dannyboy83. :) It all depends on your jurisdiction, but in general, you really need a lawyer to sort out the detail of your policies. That doesn't stop you looking around at other forums to get an idea of the important aspects you need to cover in your terms of service.

One of your concerns should be regarding potential liability for the posts made on your site, so you need to consider to what extent are going to moderate the discussion.

[dannyboy83]

Thanks for that. Yes, it seems that most sites I've looked at with interaction - whether it is via forums, blog comments, or other means - seem to specifically say they take no responsibility for posts and state that while they moderate the site, it's not always possible to check all posts 24/7.

Glad to know there's some like-minded folks out there!

[legallink]

It is a little more complicated than that. As a lawyer that specializes in internet law, it really depends on the interaction between users and the host. What they are allowed to do and not allowed to do. Moderators or not. Etc. You should definitely have a lawyer look at it, and maybe even draft it.