Financial websites / companies - question

mcdermott1

Hi Guys,

I have a question that it would be fantastic if someone could help me with.

Hypothetically, I* (*all uses of the word "I", or first person perspective should be considered hypothetically / to illustrate an example) - am a web designer operating in Ireland, and want to make a website that compares products in Ireland.

So just to clarify I am not directly offering a product - I would comparing existing products operated by other companies. I wouldnt have a form collecting leads or offer financial advice per se - and would put a disclaimer at the bottom of the site stipulating that any information on the site should not be considered financial advice.

Would I none-the-less need to get any kind of license, if I was to compare any kind of financial product (eg pension)?

I know in the UK - although I don't think you need a license - you would still need to be mega aware of the FSA and their regulations.

Is there anything I should be aware of?

Cheers!

Tom Young

Well let me ask you a question. Say you were the web designer for ..... Ryanair for example and you had a team of 60 people inputting prices and conditions based on a selection of criteria, which you alone control and that are not permitted to be used elsewhere, i.e., you can't replicate an exact price. Would you want someone trying to replicate your conditions of sale, based on objective not subjective criteria and potentially giving inaccurate data back?

There is a Database Right in Law and a Website is a database. Be very careful that you have consent to make your comparisons and do so in a completely transparent and subjective fashion, otherwise what your doing is theft.

Database rights are either sui generis or derive from the Copyright and related Acts 2000.

You possibly should try and achieve consent before embarking on such a project.

You could be slapped with an injunction otherwise.

Tom

PCPhoto

on that ---- didnt Ryanair recently start an action against a German company for Scanning or something like that - where they went to the courts because the company was mimicking their prices (offering their flights)

OP my guess is that if you are simply saying that :

Joe soap is offering X product for Y price
Jane 23 is offering X(ish) product for Y price
Dave is offering a similar product for Y price

THE ABOVE IS FOR PRODUCTS - YOU ARE ASKING ABOUT FINANCIAL COMPARISSONS.

I cant see much of a problem (I think there was a european directive allowing the comparisson of prices a couple of years back) ....but dont be surprised if someone sues you for claiming that their product is the same as someone elses but more expensive ....there could be extra terms/conditions which you would need to include.... its a tricky one. (especially as with financial products the terms and conditions will be similar but different - making each product different and making comparissons between products difficult)

Best of luck with it.

Tom Young

Yes, the practice is called 'screenscraping' and I might or might not have used Ryanair on purpose.

There is no definitive decision here as yet but a ton of them from around the world. The lead ECJ case is William Hill v British Horse Racing Board.

Major actions on this in the US too.

I say caution.

mcdermott1

Tom Young & PCPhoto - thankyou very much for your advice - it is very very much appreciated.

Possibly a moot point - but with the financial products I generally wouldnt actually be listing prices - as they can change on a daily/hourly basis sometimes - so it wouldn't be possible to keep up.

It would be for details of x financial product, for example the excess paid on an insurance policy when a claim is made.

If I only listed/compared information freely available on official websites - rather than attempted to mine data/prices (as per the Ryan Air case) - would this be more acceptable?

I think consent would definitely be a good idea, though I do have a slight worry that a company might object - so as to eliminate me in terms of online competition in the rankings.

I will also look further into the Database Right in Law - and also into the concept sui generis & Copyright and related Acts 2000.

Thankyou very much for your help.

Tom Young

Do that, get a solicitor to talk you through it.

The above is not to be construed as legal advice, as that would not be in line with the charter.

Online theft and breaching database/copyright law is worth being aware of even for your own business.

Tom

mcdermott1

Tom Young wrote: »

Do that, get a solicitor to talk you through it.

The above is not to be construed as legal advice, as that would not be in line with the charter.

Online theft and breaching database/copyright law is worth being aware of even for your own business.

Tom

Thankyou sincerely for taking the time to help steer me in the right direction Tom - and don't worry I do not consider the above legal advice.

If there is anyway I can repay the favour (website help) do let me know.