Legal Question in Technology Law in Missouri

Define liability converning "posting consumer feedback on a web site"

If you have a web site and you allow people to post information to it, what are the legal "bases" that have to be considered to protect the web site owner from being sued if someone finds the content of the posting objectionable? For example, amazon.com and bn.com indicates in a "rules" page that info submitted to the page becomes the property of amazon and bn and they review and decide what to post and not post...other sites like E-bay.com say the author is completely responsible for the content...Ebay accepts NO liability for comments made.

Is it as simple as stating your position, having people click an "agree to terms" button and proceeding, or do you have to have a more detailed legal position than that?


Asked on 8/27/99, 8:28 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bruce Burdick Burdick Law Firm

Re: Define liability converning

You need to keep in mind that protecting against suit and protecting against losing a suit are two different things. If you put objectionable material on the web, you could generate a suit that, even if you win makes the matter very costly. So, to ask what you have to do to when posting objectionable material to protect against being sued marks you as naive. Anyone can sue. If you put objectionable material out you can expect that a suit is a distinct possibility. Whether you are right or not may not matter.

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Answered on 8/27/99, 11:47 pm


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