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Electronic Legal Agreement By Checkbox???

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    Electronic Legal Agreement By Checkbox???

    A question for you website developers out there.

    I am developing a business idea which involves the user submitting details to a website.

    I want the user to read and accept an agreement and click on a checkbox to indicate acceptance.

    My question is, if the user can only submit details by accepting the agreement (clicking checkbox and selecting 'submit'), does that have any legal standing?

    Would I need a log of these 'acceptance of agreements' or is a column in a database table enough?

    Hope someone can help!

    #2
    Store it just in case. Dont count on your "legal" agreement too much however, because you will never know who exactly submitted the details. Dont build your business model around this sort of legal protection, it will fail you.

    Comment


      #3
      A check box either electric or manual is not considered valid under UK law since 2001. You will need to look up the Consumer Acts. Permission specific must be made clear i.e.: The user must write or type in a word or words, eg: I agree or something similar. There is also new consumer law that came into force yesterday that also relates to goods and services, you will need to be familiar with that as well because it increases consumer rights.

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        #4
        Nearly every website has terms and conditions to agree to when registering. So does this mean that they've all got it wrong?

        I have a checkbox to agree to certain conditions to cover myself in the event a user posts something untrue. The conditions are also available to read via a link from the homepage.

        If this is not valid, then what about every other company that adds a standard disclaimer to the bottom of their emails?

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          #5
          > Nearly every website has terms and conditions to agree to
          > when registering. So does this mean that they've all got it
          > wrong?

          Very possible -- they all copy each other. If you look at most software licenses they have terms that are often in contradiction to general law, and its just no one tested this in courts yet, but it does not mean they are right about it.

          > If this is not valid, then what about every other company
          > that adds a standard disclaimer to the bottom of their
          > emails?

          Until we have a few cases we would not know for certain. So, treat is as best practice not guarantee.

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            #6
            Best Practice

            I'll treat it as best practice and hope someone else gets sued first!

            A bit like IR35 when you think about it.

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              #7
              Re: Best Practice

              The terms will state the governing law of the contract - I assume this will mostly be US law. It may be legal for check box to be used under US law.

              You guys make me laugh. You have a legal question that relates to business and you rely on what bar-room advocates tell you? Maybe a visit to a real lawyer might be useful?

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                #8
                Re: Best Practice

                I've got a solicitor, but he knows feck all about computers.:rolleyes

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                  #9
                  Re: Best Practice

                  roger, while talking to lawyer is a must in this sort of cases, its good idea to make some research before hand. By knowing grey areas in advance you can maximize value of lawyers advice -- you dont really need to have him charging for obvious stuff, right?

                  These talks here obviously are not substitution.

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