We are pleased to welcome on board a new lawyer – Hannah Mackinlay. Hannah specialises in commercial property and environmental law and will be writing articles for future issues of the e-zine – so please email Hannah now if there are topics you’d like to see covered.

We welcome your feedback – if there is any particular legal issue you’d like to see covered send the details through to marketing@e-lawfirm.co.uk.

A “Brochure” Site
It may well be important to make it clear that your site is up to date only as at the date of posting the info. As a visitor may well not know when that is, it is best to say something like “Up to date as at (e.g.) 10 January 2004”. Also, a visitor might see you as a site with expert knowledge on it, rely on it, have a problem and then sue you for negligence! So, you might also want to make it clear that the site contains information only and not advice.** Make it clear they should take advice before taking any action based upon the information.

A Selling Site
You need to cover all the information mentioned above and to set out all the terms that apply to what will be a contract between you and your buyer. We cannot realistically set out a definite way to deal with this as it always depends upon the way each site is set out and what is being sold to whom.

• that people must not post defamatory things
• that you do not exert “editorial control” over things posted (otherwise you’ll be in the same position as a newspaper which is normally liable for any libel)
• a clear mechanism for somebody who objects to a statement to complain (known as a “takedown” procedure)
• removal of any items you are concerned about
• provision allowing you to remove anything you find wrong or unacceptable
• a clear statement that anything posted is an opinion and not a statement of fact
• a clear indication that any postings are not in anyway your opinion or on your behalf
• maybe even seek an indemnity (an agreement to pay back to you any cost to you) from the poster for any wrongful postings.

The Life Blood of Your Business – but where is it?

Information is the life-blood of any business. Be it customer contact details, supplier information, customers' accounts, information on stock levels, or the company's own accounts, information is the key to getting a grip on the business. But with the proliferation of small office applications, there is a tendency for a business' information to percolate through into a multitude of different places: contact management applications, Excel spreadsheets, Access databases, Word documents, and so on. How does a company ensure that all of these different applications have consistent, accurate information with which to work? Insistence that one application (for example the accounts system) is maintained as the master data source might be one solution. But how do you make this happen when your sales force are out on the road collecting valuable information, taking orders and amending customer details? Effective data feeds between one software system and another could be the answer. Enchaine Informatic have a lot of experience in creating customised solutions and also offer consultancy to identify ways of managing information more effectively.

 

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