Webware

SueEasy.com is a matchmaking app that connects people who have major and minor grievances in life with attorneys eager to file class action lawsuits for them. Like any good Web app, SueEasy is free, simple, and perhaps even effective.

Let's say your Web hosting company leaves you twisting in the wind, or you come back from a trip and your cell phone bill is more than your mortgage payment. In the olden days, if you were sufficiently harmed and angry, and had the fortitude of a sumo wrestler, maybe you could find an attorney who would spend months, if not years, trying to locate others similarly harmed. No more: the Internet is here to help.

To start the process of getting your would-be case off the ground, you fill in a free registration, then describe your medical, financial, product, employment, or other beef. Others can chime in. Or you can shop existing class action suits. In either case, attorneys and law firms interested in your case contact you directly regarding representation and participation in a given class action suit.

Registration is currently free for both consumers and lawyers, but the company may charge attorneys finders feeds for using the service.

Have you been wronged?

Like any interesting Web app, SueEasy is attracting competitors: Time Magazine reports that WhoICanSue.com will launch next month, with the mission of letting people find out from real lawyers if they have a case, and giving lawyers first crack at would-be clients for a $1,000 annual fee.

The class action activities at SueEasy.com range from the trivial to the tragic, and while the site claims "50,000 cases processed," there's nothing to back up that claim that I could find. Is SueEasy digital ambulance chasing or using the power of the Web to fuel the righting of real wrongs? You can be the judge of that.

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.

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