Evaluating Web Sites for Legal Compliance: Basics for Web Site Legal Auditing

As the World Wide Web increases in importance as a tool for commerce of all kinds, so too do the legal and auditing issues. Soon it will not be enough for a Web site to comply with basic security features; sites will need to be properly configured from a legal point of view. The authors, both lawyers, explore the need for a basic legal framework for analyzing Web pages (the fundamental structure of the Web) and describe a systematic but flexible legal auditing tool for accomplishing such an analysis. The first section discusses domain names – their origin, justification, types, purposes, and local and international procedures and uses. The next part provides an orientation to intellectual property, both first generation issues (trademarks, service marks, logos, copyright, etc.) and second generation issues (deep-thinking, metatags, and framing). Other sections introduce the reader to the legal implications of hypertext links, shrink-wrap and click-wrap agreements, issues of privacy and security, disclaimers, and the problem of jurisdiction over international transactions. This guide was written specifically to assist Web page developers, attorneys, and managers in assessing and correcting potential legal problems before they occur.