I got an email from Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation yesterday. It began, "Half the companies you blog about have copyright or privacy legal issues simmering just under the surface. Since most of them are thinly capitalized, when they get into trouble, they're likely to call EFF for legal advice. Several already have."
I called von Lohmann right away, since I've had a nagging feeling for months that too many of the interesting products I've been seeing were legally shaky. So I talked with him to come up with this list: 9 Fun Ways Web 2.0 Startups Can Commit Legal Suicide.
For more information than can fit in a blog post, you might want to check out the EFF's upcoming Compliance Bootcamp on Oct. 10 in Mountain View. I told von Lohmann I'd link to the event in exchange for this preview.
1. Ignoring the rules of Safe Harbor
Many media sharing sites, like SimplifyMedia, exist in a narrow legal framework carved out of the DMCA. But you can't take advantage of the Safe Harbor provisions of the DMCA if you don't register as a "copyright agent." All that's required is filling out a form and paying an $80 fee. You can't get protection without registering. As von Lohmann said, "The difference between you and Napster might be this form."
2. Ignoring the Terms of Service chain
This applies to sites that collect or aggregate data--like Mint, which collects its users' financial information. The sites where the data are coming from may have terms of service that prohibit their users from sharing them with third parties. Sites that collect this information may be seen as encouraging breech of contract, which is a legal exposure.
3. Falling for a sob story
If you're collecting personal information from or about people, there will be other people who want it. They may call up your company and give someone there a convincing story to get it. If your team falls for this "pretexting," or social engineering, users can sue you for exposing their information.... Read more
At last night's NY Tech Meetup, one of the New York Web start-ups showcased was BitWine, a networking service based on providing paid advice; or, as exec Alon Cohen put it, "a market for knowledge." A Web user may come to BitWine looking for advice that ranges from how to train for a marathon to how to pitch a new company to investors; experts in all subjects may come to BitWine to find a way to cash in on their esoteric and not-so-esoteric knowledge. The site was established about a year ago and launched in full about eight weeks back. According to Cohen, it has over 10,000 users already.
You're probably thinking that this is awfully similar to Google Answers, another paid-answer service and one of Google's few failures: it shut down at the end of 2006. But BitWine insists it's different because of its multimedia business model, which includes video chat through a deal with Skype as well as a downloadable toolbar designed to make BitWine's services easily accessible at all times. The truth is, in my opinion, that any "paid advice" site is going to experience difficulty because the Web is so rife with free knowledge that's just a Google search away, in addition to free advice sites like Yahoo Answers. But if BitWine manages to build up a base of legitimately reputable experts, it could experience some impressive growth.
On the flip side, if BitWine does get big, it'll have some tougher problems to face. As one audience member put it at the NY Tech Meetup, "How long do you think before this starts getting used for porn?" After all, BitWine is heavily connected with video chat. Cohen seemed to indicate that this has not yet been a problem, and that members engaging in pornographic activity will have their accounts banned, but at the same time, this will potentially be a much harder issue to tackle.
- prev
- 1
- next
