Legal Issues for Membership based Ecommerce Sites

Membership-based ecommerce websites those that offer products, services, or additional benefits to members have their own set of complex legal issues that do not apply to traditional online retailers.

License to Use Website

Membership-based websites should ensure that they have adopted a terms-of-use agreement to outline the relationship between the website and the members. Specifically, these websites should provide a license to use the website provided the members conform to the website’s acceptable use policy.

An acceptable use policy typically prohibits members from transmitting spam emails to users, imposing a disproportionate load on the website’s servers, accessing the website through automated means (such as a bot), or posting or transmitting harassing, pornographic, or infringing content.

User-generated Content

Content submitted by members — such as images, text, videos, and comments — is one of the key areas of liability for membership-based websites. This user-generated content can often be the main draw of the site, but it can also be a haven for potential liability. Again, membership-based websites should ensure that they have adopted a terms-of-use agreement to control, by contract, the submission and use of user-generated content.

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