RSS
STORE
If you fail to disclose certain information on a corporate website, or from a corporate e-mail address, in the United Kingdom, you could be fined. Companies in the UK who do not contain regulatory information on their websites and in their e-mail footers (as of January 1, 2007) are in breach of that country’s Companies Act and risk a fine (see Companies to update websites and email footers before 2007, OUT-LAW News, 20/12/2006).
The revised Act states that every company should list its company registration number, place of registration and registered office address on its website. The same information must also appear on order forms and in e-mails that constitute a ‘business letters’ (a somewhat ambiguous term that is open to interpretation and therefore may apply to all corporate e-mails).
Whether or not your organization is in a jurisdiction that has to comply with such legislation the message is clear: with power comes great responsibility. Corporate web and intranet managers need to act responsibly with their content, and act accordingly. If they don’t already exist (or if not in the proper form), the responsibility begins with well developed and promoted policy including:
• Editorial policy (content ownership / authorship roles & responsibilities)
• E-mail acceptable use (dos and don’ts)
• Terms of use (dos and don’ts)
Additionally, whether you have a content management system or not (though certainly a lot easier with a CMS), every single web or intranet page should have a standardized footer which includes the following elements:
• A legal disclaimer
• Terms of use
• Copyright stamp
• Name and email address of author
• Date of publish
The benefits for solid, through and responsible management of web content are many, but the pitfalls and potential problems are far greater (see Poor intranet policy management could lead to lawsuits). It is the responsibility of every web or intranet manager to act accordingly and drive the development of these policies and not leave it to the legal department or others.
MORE RELATED READING:Protecting your goods
--
Toby Ward is an Internet and intranet communications consultant and the founder of Prescient Digital Media. While he spends most of his time working for many clients, he is also the author of www.IntranetBlog.com.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Nice posting Guys...
Comments (2)
Toby, Thanks for the information on legal requirements in the UK. Can you point me toward any similar information on requirements in the US? Thanks for writing. L.
Posted by Laurie | March 30, 2007 1:15 PM
Posted on March 30, 2007 13:15
Aside from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (search under Wikipedia) I know of no such legislation in the United States. The UK is a little more progressive (some might say bureaucratic) than the US when it comes to the Internet and legislation.
Posted by Toby Ward | April 2, 2007 12:21 PM
Posted on April 2, 2007 12:21