Planning to open my own forum, help please |
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stanley
New Poster
Cash: $ 0.45
Posts: 2
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
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Planning to open my own forum, help please |
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Hi I am a part of another financial forum. Also I am planning to open my own forums.
One issue worried me more and that is openness.How open can one forum be,
I noticed few legal issues against the forums,
1) A company (WCC) is filing a case against them for some posts done by members.
2) Collection agencies are not happy with the openness concept and are after the forums.
Can they take any action against the forum admins (or the company)?
Thanks
Stanley
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Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:12 am |
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Euler
Senior Member
Cash: $ 76.16
Posts: 404
Joined: 06 Nov 2003
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You can protect your web operation from that sort of thing by taking this one big step:
Provide a clear and defensive CONTENT POLICY and clearly link it from every page.
In this content policy, clearly state that all content belongs to the original author and that the website bears no liability for correctness, completeness, relevance or suitability for any purpose. Say it a few different ways and then say that all of the policy elements are to be interpreted in the manner that exposes the absolute least amt of risk to the operating entity (corporation or individual).
Also make every signup read this and click agreement in order to create an account.
Also place a one-sentence english (not legalese) summary of the policy and display it on every page. When you post on your own board, frequently refer to this policy using links.
If all content belongs to its author and you take reasonable steps to make certain that this is well understood by all patrons, members and anonymous surfers, you are protected.
The idea behind this powerful protection is that you provide a service, much like the phone service. You are a conduit for others' information. Just like I cannot sue Ma Bell (whats left of her) for information I recieve over the telephone, the website does not bear liability for information consumed through its service.
Like a phone, the website is a dumb pipe. It relies upon the content provided by its users. That is its core function. Therefore the liability belongs to the entity that posted the information on the website.
Now, the scum suckers will hit you up for the identity of the author of the offending post.
To stop this, provide an equally clear and loud PRIVACY POLICY that states that all personal details are strictly confidential. Use much stronger language than this. When you get requests for a users details, just point to the policy and apologize for not being able to help.
NOW READ THIS!
I am not a lawyer. I am therefore incompetent and you should not take any of this advice seriously. Consult a real lawyer. I am not liable for any of the information in this post!
Good luck! LOL
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Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:01 am |
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stanley
New Poster
Cash: $ 0.45
Posts: 2
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
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thanks |
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Thanks that is very helpful info.
quote: The idea behind this powerful protection is that you provide a service, much like the phone service.
This explains it all. very well said
I think debtconsolidationcare.com has mentioned some policies like that but people are not signing any agreement and also it is not linked from every page.
quote: I am not a lawyer. I am therefore incompetent and you should not take any of this advice seriously.
, your post does not support it, legally very strong post. thanks again.
btw did you read denny's blog about the case, he had mention some clauses there.
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Fri Dec 02, 2005 6:09 pm |
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