What are Website’s Terms of Use?
A website’s terms of use are the rules that visitors must follow when using the website. The terms of use should be properly drafted to ensure their enforceability and should at least set out the following:
1) Prohibited conduct;
2) Ownership of intellectual property rights;
3) Disclaimers; and
4) Liability.
Terms of use are different from terms and conditions, as the latter set out the contractual arrangement when the user purchases a product or service from the website for the online business.
For the Terms of Use to be enforceable, there should be:
Click Wrap Agreement
Terms of use therefore are usually drafted as a Click Wrap Agreement. Click wrap agreement is usually in the form of a dialogue box which the user has to scroll through. There is also an “I Agree” box which the user has to click before they can proceed.
For notice, click wrap agreement usually constitute reasonably notice as the agreement normally pop up automatically. The terms should be in plain English and users should have to scroll through them before proceeding further.
By ticking “I Agree” this may constitute acceptance of the online terms of use. Some click wrap agreements do not allow you to click “I Agree” until you have scrolled to the bottom of the terms.
For E-commerce or online business legal services, please contact Chow & Cheung, Hong Kong Solicitors & Notary Public (Email: cac@ccsn.hk).
www.ccsn.hk
The above contents do not constitute legal advice or service and it should not be regarded as a substitute for detailed advice or service in individual cases. Transmission of this information is not intended to create and receipt does not constitute a lawyer-client relationship between Chow & Cheung and the user or browser. Chow & Cheung is not responsible for any third party content which can be accessed through the website.