Blog/Forum rules & requirements

ron_darrell

Hi guys,

I'm not sure if this is the right forum but please feel free to move this thread if I have it in the wrong place.

Basically my question is this. I'm writing a blog/forum type page for 2 separate customers, one will be for internal use and the other will be for external use. Are there any requirements I need to have in place with regards speed and accessibility (beyond the usual making the site accessible to partially sighted and otherwise differently abled users)? Are there any legal requirements that need to be in place before I can go live with the sites (I have explained to both customers that they will be responsible for the content of the blog and will need to have moderators/administrators in place to remove offending/libellous content)? What about security? The sites are accessed from secure sites requiring log-in and will not allow access to un-authorised users (i.e. you can't just pop in the url and work away) but the data is being stored in a database (passworded but not encrypted).

I know how dumb some of these questions sound and I have tried to google them with no success. I'd appreciate the input from anyone interested.

Thanks in advance
-RD

CoNfOuNd

You could try using the W3C markup validator to ensure your code follows the applicable standards:

http://validator.w3.org/

WeeDiddly

No just say:
"MyBlog Media Ltd" has no affiliation with the comments posted on this site, unless publicly written by the owner of MyBLog Media Ltd.

in comments section.....write:
The author of the comments, are completely liable for their own content, and shall accept all/unlimited responsibility, and have read the Terms & Conditions(Link) before clicking on the submit button. Thank you for contributing to MyBlog Media.

This lifts all repsonsibility from you or the client. Rephrase whatever you want, but your legal requirement is to say that you will try and get rid of bad content, but you accept no liability for it, and you are taking none of the crap...

Otherwise, have a happy time getting sued when something goes wrong.

The Freedom Of Speech Act pretty much protects you from, well..... Everything....

stevenmu

Am I right in saying that both of these will be for private use ? If they're going to be for public use and you are storing information on private individuals then there's data protection issues to consider, you can read about them at http://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Home/4.htm, there's lists of your responsibilities and checklists and stuff.

mneylon

WeeDiddly wrote:

The Freedom Of Speech Act pretty much protects you from, well..... Everything....

Err no it doesn't

Under Irish law if you run a blog or forum you are responsible for the content, whether you produced it or not.

di11on

When you think about it... if a forum contained endless threads containing incitements to hate and violence, do you think the forum owner would be completely free of responsibility?

An extreme example, of course, but it illustrates the point!

stevenmu

But the responsibility does lie with the owner/operator, in this case the OP's customer, as opposed to the developer, in this case the OP.

(unless possibly the op was to take on the responsibility of running the forum)