Putting the Positive in Negative Option Billing
With a name like “negative option billing” it should come as no surprise that this practice has received a lot of negative attention lately from the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), various state attorneys general and other regulatory bodies. Despite this trend, marketers and consumers alike have found this billing method to be a convenient and useful payment option over the years. With proper and prominent disclosures, a reasonable price point, an equitable refund policy and a responsive customer service department (complete with a user-friendly cancellation policy), there’s no reason to think that negative option billing cannot continue to be a respectable business model for years to come. More >
Flogs, Farticles and F…liability
The advent of new media such as blogs (short for web logs – personalized websites regularly updated with content) and social networking sites (such as Facebook and MySpace) has opened vast new territory for information dissemination, networking and connectivity. Due to the low start up costs associated with creating a blog or joining a social networking site, every “netizen” with an opinion can set up a web-based soapbox from which to broadcast to the world. More >
Privacy Is Good Policy
It is not uncommon for clients to inquire, skeptically, as to the necessity and importance of posting a privacy policy on their websites. While some clients might prefer to skip that step (and expense), my counsel is almost always the same: If you own or operate a website that collects personally identifiable information (“PII”) from end-users (name, e-mail/mailing address, phone number, etc.), it is crucial that you compose an easy-to-read, concise privacy policy that you make available to visitors via a hyperlink on your home page. More >
