The Legal Side of Online Business
Internet business is business, too. And a business needs to have legal notices on the website, as well as it needs precise tax declarations; affiliations with merchant processors; hosting companies; and much more. This is especially valid for any form of product or service selling that involves accepting credit cards as a form of payment.
Although many eCommerce templates have easily fillable forms that will help you save time writing TOS (Terms of Service) for your website, you should always look through them and see if they comply with your websites policies. Basically, when adjusting those texts, one should keep an eye out for their content, as legal trouble can suffocate an otherwise steady, growing business.
Copyright infringement issues are quite rare online, as there is very little people can actually do when someone has stolen their work. There have been, however, bigger lawsuits involving Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, like the YouTube trials and subsequent video removals from the popular video sharing site. Generally lawsuits only involve bigger companies – companies that can afford a trial to last for years.
Dealing with credit card processors (if you have customers and they make payments with credit cards) can be an issue, too. Merchant accounts can be canceled if they don’t meet the merchant provider’s standards. For example, if you own a high risk business or commit suspicious transactions, your merchant account will by no doubt be monitored. Also, keep in mind that some merchant processors have a monthly limit that has additional fees if it’s passed.
