Legal Question in Business Law in Virginia

I want to create a local website for the public to rate local businesses, and write their experience with them. They would rate one to five stars and, and write comments about the business or person, which could be positive or negative.

Can I get in trouble for having this website, allowing the public to write good or bad comments about local businesses, without having the consent of the business to be on the website? I see it as free speech, and websites like Yellow Pages will allow you to post any comments about any business.

The purpose is to let the community know who is a great business to support and buy from, and which to stay away from.

Thank you.

-Brion D.


Asked on 9/10/11, 4:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

No, I do not believe that you could incur civil liability by involving yourself in such an enterprise since there are already numerous companies on the Internet and elsewhere such as ANGIE"S LIST.com which are doing exactly what you've described--and, apparently, without legal problems arising from the predicate concept on which this kind of business is necessarily based, i.e, providing a forum for the expression of opinions of consumers to which the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has traditionally given wide latitude thereto.

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Answered on 9/10/11, 9:50 pm


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