Forum Insurance

[moveforward]

Hello,
I am based in the UK and run a number of forums.

I have recently tried to get some sort of liability insurance cover for my company - which is the owner/operator of the forums and I am finding this very difficult.

I basically want a policy that would cover me for any legal costs for slander and libel which may occur as the forums grow.

I was wondering if other Big Board owners have insurance and if anyone can recommend any forum friendly insurers?

Thanks for any advice,
Bob

[sanjay369]

I would be interested in this as well

[FreshFroot]

good topic.. I'm wondering about this too. I guess this would be VERY valuable if you run a huge forum. I would think the insurance price would be high though and have to depend on TONS of factors, eg. server, host, software.. might get complicated compared to something like car insurance..

[mhackl]

I don't know.

I believe that I've read somewhere that it has been established in a US court that the forum operator is not liable for content contributed by its forum members. This, if true, would make such a policy unnecessary at least in the USA.

I'll try and dig up the case info for anyone whose interested.

[Hex_legend]

I am also in the UK and my forums are my company. I have been able to get legal cover under the data protection act (speak to the information commissioner) and Public Liability Insurance for electronic details being held on file.

Want any more info? PM me.

www.alwaysalternative.com

Leigh

[hotcouponworld]

I believe what you're looking for is an errors and omissions policy. Generally, coverage of $1M is sufficient as I understand it. It's on my to-do list as well.

[wtrk]

I don't know.

I believe that I've read somewhere that it has been established in a US court that the forum operator is not liable for content contributed by its forum members. This, if true, would make such a policy unnecessary at least in the USA.

I'll try and dig up the case info for anyone whose interested.

the case is a california supreme court case i believe.

[kobescoresagain]

Could you just ensure your business against all types of lawsuits? I don't think the type of organization would matter.

[moveforward]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I think this is a very important topic for all of us that make substantial revenues and run large public forums.

So far I have contacted all the major insurance providers in the UK. And they are all as primative as each other. The first challenge is finding someone that actually understands our type of business is not about insuring a house or a car.

I have still had no luck.

Hex_Legend. Thanks for your response, I will be PMing you to find out more if you don't mind.

I believe that I've read somewhere that it has been established in a US court that the forum operator is not liable for content contributed by its forum members. This, if true, would make such a policy unnecessary at least in the USA.

This seems to also be the case in the UK though I have heard of forum providers also being sued - hence my concern. My forum is about property investment. People are posting their bad experiences with various dubious agents and property developers. To date, 3 of my members have had legal notices to cease their on going critique and to arrange for the content to be removed. It is strange that I have had no legal notices directly yet and it may well be the case that the precendant has been set so that the orginators of the content are held liable for slander etc.

However there have been cases (in the UK) which involve forums that are "heavily" moderated. These forum providers - by pre-moderating - seem to take on the legal responsibility for publishing the content...

I hope we can keep this topic going. I will keep posting back when I find out anything helpful.

Regards
Bob

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Pre-Moderating = accepting the consequences (you aproved the post)

[Spank]

I would have thought the best thing to do is to consult a solicitor, they would probably be able to advise you better on what to do and what type of insurance (if any) is needed.

In my own opinion I think just a simple notice stating that opinions belong to the poster and don't necessarily reflect the views of your yourwebsite.com, would be enough.

[moveforward]

Pre-Moderating = accepting the consequences (you aproved the post)
Does that mean:
Post-Mod = No Liability

What about another moderator (not the owner) pre-modding. Is the liability with them? I ask as it was one of my mods that recieved a legal notice.

What about someone like me that scans all new posts for Spam. They are not pre-moderated but I have read them and left them on the forum???

[Marco van Herwaarden]

I am not a lawyer. I suggest you contact a lawyer to ask where to draw the line in your country.

[DivisionByZero]

I have three very expensive lawyers, and they all agree on one thing: Liability Insurance for businesses who provide no tangible goods is very expensive and quite complicated, and based solely on risk.

As for your concerns about slander and libel, most people are unwilling to comnense legal proceedings because of the high costs involved.

I guess it all depends on what kind of board you're running. Liability insurance for a board where people post sex videos of their ex girlfriends would be much more expensive than for a Website where people talk about religion.

[moveforward]

I am not a lawyer. I suggest you contact a lawyer to ask where to draw the line in your country.
Hi Marco,
I am currently talking to lawyers in the UK and I will post back when I get some sound information.

I guess it all depends on what kind of board you're running. Liability insurance for a board where people post sex videos of their ex girlfriends would be much more expensive than for a Website where people talk about religion.

Hi MisterPopularity,
My forum is about overseas property investment. Some of the richest companies in the world are being discussed with both positive and negative comments...I have tried (unsuccessfully) to get liability insurance and the advice I got from one of the UK's largest business insurers is that I would be better off closing the forum down!!!

Still trying,
Bob

[iogames]

Interesting :rolleyes: but in my case the users will be youngsters, I need to be protected from Sexual Predators' actions :mad:

[DivisionByZero]

Hi MisterPopularity,
My forum is about overseas property investment. Some of the richest companies in the world are being discussed with both positive and negative comments...I have tried (unsuccessfully) to get liability insurance and the advice I got from one of the UK's largest business insurers is that I would be better off closing the forum down!!!

Still trying,
Bobjust state that the views and opinions expressed by users of your site don't reflect the opinions of your company and its officers.

[nexialys]

You can't actually protect anybody but you... opinions of your members are not your responsability until you force your members to post these opinions...

like Mister said, just indicate that your members opinions are not reflecting your company's opinion, and that's it...

if this is not sufficient, you will have to close your board... you are the one responsible for the build of this community, and you focussed on topics that would bring opinions...

[SEOvB]

I wouldn't even worry about it to much.

To prove slander/libel they'll have to prove that, the content in question has some how directly hurt their business in one way or another. Good luck with that.

[Newtonhead1]

I don't know.

I believe that I've read somewhere that it has been established in a US court that the forum operator is not liable for content contributed by its forum members. This, if true, would make such a policy unnecessary at least in the USA.

I'll try and dig up the case info for anyone whose interested.Greetings everyone,

Here's a link that provides some information on the subject that should be of some comfort to those who are concerned about their potential liability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_230_of_the_Communications_Decency_Act

Thanks,

NewtonHead1

[0tolerance]

Just get an air tight User agreement and TOS and you should be right.

[hotcouponworld]

I am in a business law class this term for my master's degree program and I asked my instructor about this. His comment was that the litigant would have much to prove that they were somehow financially harmed by your board.

He agreed that TOS was very important and needed to be tightly written to include things like a choice of law clause (we have this - it says if you want to sling it out in court, you have to do it on my turf). That, in a US court, will hold water, so now the person suing you has to come to your backyard to get it done. That's a deterrent in and of itself.

We're still looking into an error and omissions type policy, but I agree with the poster who said a tight TOS also affords lots of protection as well.

People have to remember that the internet isn't public. They are coming to your privately-held place of business, and your rules get to apply.

I would also recommend if you are writing your own TOS to include a clause that if any of your TOS is found to be unenforcable, that it doesn't devoid the rest of the TOS which is. Then that way, the whole TOS can't be thrown out, just the clause that isn't legally binding.

[iogames]

I am in a business law class this term for my master's degree program and I asked my instructor about this. His comment was that the litigant would have much to prove that they were somehow financially harmed by your board.

Did you ask Him about harassment? :eek: Pedophile? :mad: Scam? :confused: