May 12, 2009

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Dear {!firstname}:

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

Chip's Commentary:

I recently discovered an interesting viewpoint regarding small business start-ups while reading reviews of Michael Gerber's book, The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It.

Gerber suggests that entrepreneurs for start-ups should look to business franchises as a model. The reason why franchises succeed most of the time is because they provide franchisees with a written operations manual specifying every detail of running the business -- down to dress codes and wall paper.

Gerber does not recommend buying a franchise. Instead, he recommends that entrepreneurs imagine they want to sell their business as a franchise within at a stated point in time. Next -- and this is the key -- develop an "operations manual" that would empower an unskilled person to take the business over and make it fool-proof.

In the process of developing their "operations manual", entrepreneurs will remain focused on the key issues that cause the business to be successful.

Recent Developments Updates

Two of the hot-button issues facing small websites involve Internet advertising:

behavioral advertising, and

keyword advertising.

For recent updates regarding these 2 issues, read my article entitled Behavioral And Keyword Ads -- Legal Update For Hot-Button Internet Advertising Issues.

A 3rd update involves the deadline for implementing a Red-Flag Identity Theft Policy. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release on April 30, 2009, a day before the effective date of the federal Fed Flag rules, extending the enforcement date for a second time to August 1, 2009. The extension was granted due to confusion over an earlier expansive interpretation given by the FTC to the term "creditor". Essentially, the FTC broadened the definition of "creditor" to include to "all entities that regularly permit deferred payment for goods or services." Under the new expansive interpretation, the FTC maintains that "businesses that provide services and bill later, including many lawyers, doctors, and other professionals" are "creditors" and are required to comply with the Red Flag rules.

For additional information regarding the Red Flag rules, read my prior article entitled SaaS And Ecommerce Sites - Don't Miss the May 1, 2009 "Red Flags" Deadline.

Comments From Digicontracts.com:

One of the important benefits of our online contract drafting service is that updates to our documents are accessible online the moment I upload them. And these updates are FREE to subscribers during their subscription terms.

We have an Updates/Releases link on each interior page of digicontracts.com that shows all updates since the first day of the preceding month. For the current updates listing click here.

I'm now working on a complete overhaul of the Website Development Agreement (Executed) and the Website Hosting Agreement (Executed). These updates should be completed in the next week or so.

Regards,

Disclaimer: this newsletter is for informational purposes only; it does not constitute legal advice, and should not be construed as such.

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