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Sites Website Terms of Use and Privacies Policies It is advisable for a website owner to have terms dealing with access to and use of its site, as it may be able to rely on such terms in, for example, preventing the unauthorised reproduction of materials from the site's content, including trademarks or copyright infringement or unauthorised html linking to the site, or restricting its potential liabilities to visitors to the site. The documents will address the following key issues: - Scope. The terms and conditions should specify what visitors may or may not do with the website's content. Normally this is limited to a right to print and download extracts from the site. The website owner should state that all rights (including intellectual property rights) in the site belong to the website owner.
- Content. The website owner will want to impose obligations on visitors not to post any illegal or harmful content on the site as, in addition to the damage which such content could have on the reputation of the website owner’s business, the website owner could incur legal liability for content which, say, infringes the intellectual property of a third party.
- Disclaimer. It is critical for the website owner to disclaim any liability for the content or performance of the website. A visitor might try to impose such liability on the website owner where, for example, the visitor relied on content which turned out to be incorrect or out of date. Clearly, website owners would not deliberately include such content on their sites, but they will want to avoid any obligation to ensure that content is correct or up to date as the task of checking and updating all content on a regular basis would be onerous and time-consuming. Of course, different considerations apply where the website owner seeks to disclaim liability for goods or services supplied via the site.
- Linking. A standard linking licence should permit a link to the homepage of the linked site, known as a "simple" link. Some links, known as "deep" links, take the user to a part of the linked site beyond the homepage, so bypassing the site’s notices, privacy policies, contract terms or advertising which the website owner usually wishes the user to see before drilling more deeply into the site. However, the ability to bypass advertising can adversely affect the revenue of the linked site and, further, a deep link is more likely to lead a user to think that the content of the linked site is part of the linking site, which could damage the reputation and brand image of the linked site and its owner. The licence should also prevent "framing", which allows users to view at the same time more than one web page on a single display screen. The danger with framing is that the content of the linked site can look as though it is part of the linking site.
- Data protection. Most sites collect personal data on visitors, and consequently most website owners will have obligations under UK data protection law in respect of such data. Some of these obligations can be addressed by the use of a privacy policy on the website which can be brought to the attention of visitors to the site by being referred to in (and linked to from) the website terms and conditions.
If in doubt, always seek legal advice prior to signing. If something goes wrong afterwards, it will be a costly mistake. Terms and Conditions of Sale: your contract terms Where the site is used to sell goods or services, an additional set of contract terms will be necessary in order to set out the precise terms on which such goods or services will be supplied (dealing, for example, with procedures and policies for placing and accepting orders), and to reflect applicable legal and regulatory requirements (such as those relating to distance selling, consumer law and addressing the issue of cancellation of orders and online return of products). Using templates off the internet is not the right approach. There are many websites offering business documents for free or for a small charge. You may even been tempted to copy terms from your competitors (if the possibility of being sued for copyright infringement does not deter you). This may do more harm than good to your business. First of all, although all professionals will use some sort of templates, these are only the starting point. The final document will eventually look very different from the initial document and will need to represent your own business, your requirements and advantages. Secondly, you may be missing an opportunity to make an impact to your customers and differentiate yourself from the competition. Anassutzi & Co terms, for example, set out service levels and client care that differentiate us from competition. The key issues are as follows: - Incorporation: it is important to ensure that the contract terms and the contractual obligations are correctly and legally incorporated in the contract with the customers will be enforceable by giving the customer the opportunity to see and actively accept all the terms of the licence. Prominent links to the terms should therefore be included on the site and the terms should be drafted in "click-wrap" form so that customers must actively agree to the terms by clicking on an "Accept" icon.
- Trademarks: generally the terms will not permit use of the company’s trademarks, but in case it does then it should clarify the precise scope of the permitted use.
- Indemnity: the company will seek to limit its liability and to specify the remedies of the customer. However attention and care must be taken in the event the company deals with consumers since the consumers have some statutory rights and remedies that cannot be waived.
- Termination: very important in the event of a breach by the customer (for example non payment) or in the event of insolvency of the customer.
More information is available on www.anassutzi.com/free-resources.html Anassutzi & Co offers fixed fees services for the drafting and finalising of terms and conditions of use, sale and privacy policies. Information Obligations Until recently, many websites failed to give any specific information about the person or company who operated them. Few included any contact information other than an e-mail address or a telephone number. It is thought that the lack of a geographical address, or of the minimum information which would enable identification of the operator, contributed to consumer mistrust and the relatively slow uptake of e-commerce in the early years. You can find more about the information required by visiting www.anassutzi.com/free-resources.html
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