I was looking into making a 'get blank free' site and was wondering if somebody had a template or something of how my terms of service should be. If not, could somebody help me make such a ToS template? If this is the wrong section/it's already been asked, please forgive me.
Well I've noticed many hosting services literally have the same ToS so I'm guessing it's quite acceptable and done often, but I have no clue.
Thank you very much! I'll try to find and play around with one. Is there someone I should/could show it to to make sure it's protecting and all that? And just a side question, but what's the chance anyone reads that stuff?
Whoa. That's copyright infringement. I DO NOT suggest copying and pasting. It could be that the hosting companies use a legal service that contracts to many other sites. I will suggest to look at different Terms Of Services from sites and add the rules that will apply to your site. Please do so in your own words. An effective TOS doesn't have to have all the legal jargon with words and phrases people do not understand. Always write a TOS that is clearly understood and easy to read.
Yeah, that infringement feeling kicked up when I saw the 'don't touch or reproduce' line in someone's ToS. Thanks for your help Relevant. If it can be straight words I'll do it that way. Thanks again!
Totalbusiness.com or Allbusiness.com has a fe they sell. Better of course though to have an attorney write one up that understands every aspect of your business. If it is hosting - there is also http://www.hostlegal.com that offers a few papers.
I would pay an attorney, but it's just a small, lower than usual payout free stuff site, I'd really rather not sink a lot of cash into it. Is it really that hard to write one myself? (Using another as a model)
While there are things to consider (e.g., ownership of posts, copyright, membership expectations, free and paid services offered, liability of content and reaction to the content...), it's not as difficult to write as one might think. It's very time consuming if anything. The reason most TOS are redundant is because most of us have common expectations of a community. I suggest make a notation somewhere in your TOS that explains changes will occur periodically and without notice. People coming to your site bears many of the responsibilities, not only you as an admin. It's a two-way street so to speak.
You can create your own privacy statement just entering your site details. Try to use this TOS form... http://www.the-dma.org/privacy/creating.shtml
@Rel, Thanks for the encouraging word. I'm definitely going to play with that. @Kitty, thanks a bunch! That is a very helpful link right there.
This site has templates for various policies. You might have to change them if your not in the UK. http://www.website-law.co.uk/documents.html