legal: terms of use and privacy policy

[scriptKiddie]

I am building a craigslist style website and I was wondering how do I go about having a terms of use and privacy policy for the site?

thanx in advance.

[ray326]

I'd look around at the existing ones. Many are freely available for reuse through something like a Creative Commons license.

[LeeU]

You can find the Creative Commons information here (http://creativecommons.org/).

[scriptKiddie]

.... but what about privacy policy?

[ray326]

I guess you need to further clarify "go about having".

[LeeU]

Just an FYI. You might want to pay attention to this lawsuit (http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1151399126165).

[scriptKiddie]

Yeah I guess I will have to patrol the housing section.
"go abt having" = how do I know what to put. I cant afford a lawyer.

[wh666-666]

Hi scriptkiddie, I was discussing this couple days ago in A different thread (http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111697) , near enough the same subject writing legal terms of use etc. for your site which ive got quite used to myself (feel free to have a chat with me on MSN or whatever if you have loadsa little questions) and as LeeU pointed out above you need to cover alot depending on the complexity of your site to stop people trying to screw you over because living in a society where human rights go to the extreme and you can sue virtually anyone over non sensical things if your technically correct you need to be careful.

What you need is not a lawyer just a business solution company or someone experienced in doing this (writing legal agreements) if you have no idea how to and anticipate future problems. As i said in the other thread look at your layout or get a friend to as a customer, be really petty and stupid as if you have the IQ of a traffic warden and try and anticipate everything that could be an issue. It purely depends on your site and its targeted market as to how careful you need to be.

[scriptKiddie]

what if I just take craigslists' agreement and just modify it a little bit. would that be wrong ?

[wh666-666]

I havent seen craiglist. You could modify an existing agreement although its not strictly legal and if you get caught plaugerism is a criminal offense but its hard to prove. You would have to alter it significantly but i would recommend you can use other peoples terms for inspiration but not directly copy and edit as this is dodgy territory. Also what applies to one site may not applie to another no matter how similar they are.

[ray326]

If you like their TOS and privacy statements then why not just ask them for permission to use them in a modified form?

[scriptKiddie]

I guess I can try that but I dont think they are going to let me.

[wh666-666]

Just write your own or get someone experienced to do it for you because if they do let you they wont let you have it for nothing and as i said they may not have relevant terms and conditions and airtight. If you get someone to do it for you for a small fee then that might be better as it saves agaisnt future hassles.

[NogDog]

Just a word of caution: creating a legal document without the aid of a lawyer can potentially put you at risk, as certain words and phrases which we use in normal communications can have specific, legal meanings that might not be what you intended/expected.

[wh666-666]

exactly nogdog thats why in the first place i suggested a business solution company who write these kinda things all the time as it may be cheaper than a standard lawyer but they still have legal experience but a lawyer is a good bet to get it done really well if the business solution company is inexperienced.

Just out of curiosity with everybody in this thread including peeps contibuting ideas do we all have terms and conditions on our pages and if so how long and how indepth? Just wondering how much prevention other individual sites have gone to avoid any backfire?

[scriptKiddie]

can someone name any business solution company?

[wh666-666]

I work in business solutions and id be happy to discuss things with you but i cant advertise on webdeveloper or suggest names of solution companies within the thread or give prices of what to typically expect so you dont get ripped off (just due to forum regulations) so if you want some information or anything click on my msn symbol and IM me or send me a private message and i can always let you know things like how much to expect to be charged by lawyers or solution companies etc from experience.

[scriptKiddie]

thanx guys.
But if I launch a website should I have a registered company or can I run it as an individual ?

[ray326]

From a legal standpoint it won't matter unless that company is a corporation. If it's a sole proprietorship then it's just you.