Internet Legal Forms

Necessary Internet Legal Forms

It is absolutely essential that you protect yourself and your business from lawsuits frivolous or otherwise. The cost of a lawsuit could bankrupt a smaller business. There are several ways to protect yourself. The best way is to make certain that all of the necessary legal notices and disclaimers are on your web site.

Nothing can provide 100% protection. But the proper disclaimers and notices can make it difficult for a competitor trying to put you out of business, a dishonest individual looking for a quick buck, a disgruntled former employee or an over-zealous government agent to sue you .

Make no mistake, as the owner of a website, you are totally responsible for everything pertaining to that website. As always, ignorance of the law is no excuse.

What Legal Agreements, Policies and Disclaimers Are Required?
There is certain information that a website must have such as:

Privacy Policy - an absolute must. At a minimum, it should contain all of the following. Depending on the jurisdiction that applies to you business, you should consult your attorney to see if you need additional information.

Commitment to Privacy - a statement that says you take privacy seriously and under no conditions would violate your visitor's privacy
Personal Information - tell them what information you collect and what you do with it.
Email addresses - tell them what you do with addresses from the email you receive. If you add them to your email advertising list, you need to tell them that.
Advertising on your website - if you allow others to advertise (free or paid), you need a disclaimer to prevent you from being liable for your advertisers.
Cookies - if you use them you need to tell them what you use them for.
Third parties - if you do disclose information to third parties, you need to tell them under what circumstances. Since you are required by law to disclose certain types of information to law enforcement agencies, you need to tell them that.
Testimonials, submissions, etc. - you need to state who owns them after they have been submitted and whether or not you plan to use them for advertising purposes.
Right to deny access - you must state that you reserve the right to deny access to anyone for any reason.
Minors - unless you specifically target children with you web site, I would deny persons under 18 access to all ordering pages, product catalogues, etc. and flatly state that you don't sell to persons under 18 under any circumstances since most legal jurisdictions allow minors to avoid their contracts, you don't want to sell to minors. This won't absolve you from having to make refunds but will minimize your liability if a minor lies and uses a parent's credit to purchase something.
Data Security - you need a statement about what steps you take to keep customer data secure.
Contact information - provide a business name, physical address and an email address so customers can contact you with any questions they have about your privacy policy.
Revisions and last updated on - provide this information
SPAM Policy - another must. Need to have this to ward off complaints.
Copyright Notice - should be on every page of the website.
Secure Server Notice - if you do online ordering you need to clearly state that you are using a secure server and make sure you really are.

Terms of Use - an absolute must. This should be a policy about the use of your website. It may vary depending on what kind of website it is.

Acceptable use Policy - if you offer any type of online service, you need to be specific about what your customers can and cannot use your service for. Obviously you will list all the illegal activities as being prohibited plus whatever else is appropriate to your business.

Purchase Agreement - If you sell product or services, it is an absolute must. At a minimum, it should contain all of the following . Depending on the jurisdiction that applies to you business, you should consult your attorney to see if you need additional information.

A notice to read the agreement - prominently displayed or better yet a form with a check box saying that the customer accepts the terms of the agreement that must be checked for them to proceed with the purchase. Good idea to include the privacy agreement in that acceptance also.
List who the parties to the agreement are
Refund Policy and/or cancellation policy - you must explicitly state your refund policy and in the case of subscription services, the cancellation policy, how long they have to return or cancel, the acceptable method of notification (normally in writing), etc.
Charges - list what all the applicable charges are such as shipping, returned check fees, cancellation fees, taxes, custom duties , etc.
Merchant services disputes - provide explicit directions on what the customer must do to enter a dispute and how you will resolve all disputes.
Fraud Warning - state that you will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law if they make fraudulent purchases.
Rights and obligations of the buyer - an explicit list what they are.
Guaranty and warranty - clearly state the terms
Disclaimers and limitation of liability - Clearly state that you are only liable for the refund of the purchase price only not shipping or other fees to third parties.
Indemnification - need a statement that says you are not responsible for defects in the product,etc. unless, of course, you manufacturer it.
Limitation on liability from erroneous product content - usually this states that you will ship the correct product at no charge and pay for any return shipping for the incorrect merchandise.
Right to stop selling or servicing product or membership - just needs to be stated.
Jurisdiction - You need to clearly state what laws apply for all legal actions or other disputes. Normally jurisdiction is in whatever country, state or providence your business is registered as a legal entity or where you live if your business is not registered.
Modification - usually that you can change the terms of the agreement upon written notice and a period for the customer to dispute the changes.
Enforceability of provisions - whatever is legal in your jurisdiction
Waiver of breach - this is a statement that basically says you don't breach the agreement if you fail to require the customer to meet some or all of their obligations as listed in the agreement.

This list of agreements, policies and disclaimers is by no means complete or exhaustive. Consult your attorney for further information.

How Can You Be Sure You've Done Everything?
When I set up an internet partnership a couple years ago. I went to a law library, got the correct forms and modified them to suit the partnership's business needs. Then I paid the attorney that was setting up our LLC to review the documents to see if I left out anything. I was fortunate in the fact that I had a good relationship with the law firm and they have always been willing to let me save money by doing a lot of the grunt work myself. Not all law firms will do that.

There is a system that was put together by a law firm in Greenville, SC called the Internet Law Compliance System that I would have liked to have had available when I was setting up the LLC. It provides all of the necessary forms and instructions on what to do with them on your website. It's not expensive and certainly worth doing.

Even if you don't have your lawyer review the documents, this system should provide reasonable protection for your website and therefore for your business. Of course, it's always safer to have your lawyer review the documents to be certain that everything meets the requirements of your jurisdiction.

Click Here for more information on the Internet Law Compliance System.

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer and am not dispensing legal advice. This information is only provided as a general guideline. I make no warranty to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Always have your attorney review any documents, agreements or disclaimers you plan to use in your business or on your websit