Your Web Site
“Beauty’s only skin deep, yeah yeah yeah” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PU1PEA8S6M So you’ve built a beautiful site you’re ready to launch…. Here are a few things to think about: Have you drafted your Terms of Use (see our section on contracts), your Privacy Policy (much more to come on this later on), do you have the proper Intellectual Property Notices up (©, ®, ™, patent pending), have you had a web site “legal” review (due diligence). Why is this all so important? Your web site is your face to the world. It is also universally accessible to the world (unless you’ve built in password protection). What this means on a practical level is that you need to ensure that the site is accurate (or you might find yourself in violation of consumer protection laws). You need to ensure that you understand what regulations may apply to your business and make sure your web site complies with any specific regulations (e.g. are you taking credit cards for payment – there are a myriad of federal and state laws that may come into play; will users be posting comments – you will need to worry about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act). You need to make sure your on-line Terms of Use and Privacy Policy accurately reflect the way you are doing business and that they are enforceable in the jurisdictions in which you are doing business. Bottom line – you should have a full “legal” review before you launch your web site. It’s easier and cheaper to take the time to make it right from the beginning than have to deal with irate customers or regulators.
Next installment, Privacy, and remember, ALWAYS CONSULT AN ATTORNEY FIRST.
