how much of a legal minefield is this website?

whizzbang

I've been putting together an appartment rating web site, but I'm getting cold feet after listening to a piece on liable laws in ireland on a podcasting.ie.

My site is below:
http://www.flatrate.ie

I'd imagine a lot of people in the building industry would not like this and so I could imagine it getting a lot of heat.

What do people think? just put up a "we are not liable for what people say" notice and forge ahead or run for the hills?

cheers!

Gobán Saor

Firstly, I think your idea is excellent and I could see it being a big hit. Could also be a bit of a moneyspinner if you manage to take in some advertising - although there would be issues with commercial independence:D Go for it and good luck!

As to the legal side, I think you'd be pretty ok. To protect yourself, rather than a disclaimer, you should have a facility for an aggrieved party to publish a correction and/or request a withdrawal of potentially defamatory material. As long as you take reasonable care to moderate the site and promptly delete any defamatory material brought to your notice, you should have a good defence against any defamatory material posted by your users. This is merely my opinion and does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon in any way.

whizzbang

cool, thanks for the feedback, I'll look into adding that!

smcelhinney

is this site live?

I couldnt post a review of my apartment. Wrote a nice little review, lengthy, press submit, and "Page not found". Nothing irates me more.. : )

Except hot nuns.. jeeeeesh...

whizzbang

ops, sorry, I left the submit out until I was sure I wanted to go ahead with this! sorry!

I think I'll turn it on in a few weeks once I have time to monitor it properly!

Sorry for the wasted effort! I will let you know when its ready to go!

Thanks