October 22, 2008

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Dear {!firstname}:

Welcome to Your WEBSITE LAW ALERT by Chip Cooper and DigiContracts.com

Chip's Commentary:

Let's get back to a little BBQ discussion.

I'm from Eastern North Carolina, and I really enjoy the Eastern NC-style pork BBQ -- chopped with a light coating of a mild vinegar-based sauce with red pepper flakes. It takes me back to my childhood every time.

Recently, I've crossed the line from pork to beef. I've been experimenting with a friend on how to cook really good beef brisket. One of the challenges is to not dry out the brisket as it cooks low and slow for a long time.

One of the secrets is to cook with the fat side up... so that the fat will render through the meat as it cooks. The trick is to trim the fat, but not too much. Still experimenting...

Managing Legal Risks:

Operating a blog site has become one of the best ways to increase site traffic, but it's not without significant legal risks. These risks have been discussed in prior issues.

For a review regarding liability for copyright infringement and defamation, click here.

For a review of the Communications Decency Act (Section 230), and how it may help to shield blog site operators from liability, click here.

What's new is that there is now an insurance product that will provide coverage for claims such as copyright infringement, defamation, invasion of privacy, and similar claims arising out of the operation of a blog site -- or any site that permits postings by site visitors.

The new coverage is being offered by the Media Bloggers Association (MBA). For MBA's press release regarding the new product, click here.

For additional information, click here. As pointed out, most homeowner's policies exclude coverage for "business pursuits".

This is a good first step. Now, blog sites (and any site that permits postings by site visitors) have a way to manage increased legal liability. Hopefully, as the marketplace matures, there will be competing offerings that will help stabilize premiums.

Comments From Digicontracts.com:

We continue to hear statements of surprise from new subscribers to our DigiContracts.com site and online contract drafting service that we really do answer the telephone and respond to emails.

In today's environment characterized by anonymous sites, new subscribers find it hard to believe that there are real people behind our site.

Regards,

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