Be a good host: don't let your guests be rude

The importance of correctly drafted terms of use for websites has recently been re-enforced by the announcement that BurstNet, a website hosting company, has closed down a blogging platform (Blogetery.com) which BurstNet hosted. BurstNet states that Blogetery.com had allowed blogs containing “terrorist material” to be posted to the site, in contravention of the terms of use between the parties.

Terms of use regulate the use of websites, protecting the interests of the host or the platform owner respectively (depending on the scenario) and notify the end users of their rights and obligations when using the site.

Typically, in addition to other terms, the policies will restrict the type of information a user may upload on to a site. For example offensive, defamatory and obscene material will all be prohibited from being uploaded on to a site under a properly drafted terms of use policy.

It is on that basis that BurstNet shut down the blogging platform, because the platform owner had allowed thousands of blogs to be posted which were in breach of the terms of use between BurstNet and Blogetery.com.

All websites, regardless of whether they have interactive content, should have appropriate written terms of use between all the parties. This recent case is a clear example of their importance.

For more information, please contact Karen Harrison, Jim Carter or Matthew Read.
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