Site and Email Disclaimers - A necessary evil

This being the age of increasing litigation, it is advisable for web site owners to have disclaimers posted on their Internet sites, and to have them accessible from any other part of the site. It is unfortunate that we need to do this, but such is the nature of the beast. Internet Law varies from country to country as to what can be posted on disclaimer and privacy notices, but generally they should cover your terms of use regardings these points:

- The quality of content of the site

- The availability of services on your site to certain groups of people (e.g. age of visitors) or geographical locations

- Endorsement of links to other web sites.

- Make it clear that information on your site is for information purposes only and not intended to constitue professional advice as circumstances will vary from person to person.

- Clearly state your rights to reproduce or remove material uploaded or posted to your web site.

- That you are not liable to visitors for information posted to your Internet site.

- That others posting to your site cannot hold you responsible for any loss or damages arising from supplying material.

- That you are not liable for the actions of users of your website.

Web site usage disclaimer example:

Disclaimer.
This archive's information is given "as is" and without any kind of guarantee. In no event shall YOUR COMPANY NAME be liable for any consequential, incidental, or direct damages suffered in the course of using the information in this archive. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the information is assumed by the user. Use restrictions may be included in the licence agreements that apply to each piece of information in this archive.

Web site forum disclaimer example:
It is the responsibility of the message's author, not YOUR COMPANY NAME, to make any opinions, recommendations, statements, or other information contained in any message posted or transmitted by any third party or made available as part of this discussion group (including any bulletin boards and chat rooms) (unless YOUR COMPANY NAME is specifically identified as the author of the message).

It is not implied that YOUR COMPANY NAME has approved or confirmed the accuracy, completeness, or utility of any communication by the mere fact that it was placed on or communicated via this YOUR COMPANY NAME website. Visitors to the forum are encouraged to report any offensive messages to yourname@yourcompanyname.com. This forum is not continuously watched. Issues regarding the development of privacy policies can be viewed via the following article:

http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles/reassurance.htm

Email Disclaimers

With the general acceptance of email for business communications, it is becoming increasingly important that we represent and safeguard ourselves effectively in our emails. The proliferation of viruses has raised questions as to whether a company can be sued for sending another company an email with an infected attachment.

If you are managing a company with many employees; it is very difficult to keep tabs on the way your business is being represented online by your staff, and even more challenging is the issue of confidentiality. When we submit a web development draft proposal, we want to ensure that the design proposal is going to the right people and not being redistributed to competitors. The eight to twelve hours of unpaid work we put into a draft proposal is something that we try to protect.

A disclaimer notice at the bottom of each email can provide some reassurance to the recipient and state very clearly the purposes and representation of the communication and any warranties implied. In the case of submission of ideas and proposals etc; the subject line should read "commercial in confidence ATT: RECIPIENTS NAME". As for any legal protection, this is still yet to be tested in many countries.

An email disclaimer example:

Disclaimer: This email contains privileged or copyright information, and any files transmitted with it are confidential. Without the sender's consent, you may not distribute this message to a third party. This email and the information it contains may not be copied, distributed, or used for any other reason except to tell us if you are not the intended receiver.


Please tell the sender right away and erase this email from your machine if you accidentally received it.While every precaution has been taken to reduce the risk, we cannot guarantee that this material is free from viruses or other flaws. Except where the sender specifically states otherwise, any opinions expressed in this message are those of the individual sending it, not YOUR COMPANY NAME.


This email disclaimer notice should be sized at 8 points and placed right after the signature line.

Note:

Because of the great variance in Internet laws from country to country, I strongly advise that you consult legal counsel in regards to drafting your own disclaimers and site policies. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be regarded as professional counsel.. there you go.. I've just used a disclaimer for this article - ;0)

Source: Free Guest Posting Articles from ArticlesFactory.com