Re: Ethics and copyright

>A client wants to create a privacy policy for his site which I'm currently
>developing. He's asked me to "copy" another site's privacy policy
>(substituting his business name and so on). I have a bad feeling about doing
>this and would ideally like to ask him to provide the text for this on his
>own. I've also considered suggesting that he take a look at TRUSTe's
>(www.truste.org) sample privacy policy and developing one from there.

         A quick look at the privacy policies on various web sites will 
show you that they have many things in common.  Still, copying one site's 
privacy policy in its entirety for use on another site most likely could be 
considered copyright infringement.  A web designer or other person who does 
so could be liable for "contributory" copyright infringement.  (In one case 
-- not related to web sites or privacy policies -- a court described a 
contributory infringer as "one who, with knowledge of the infringing 
activity, induces, causes or materially contributes to the infringing 
conduct of another.")

         Aside from the copyright issue, though, using someone else's 
privacy policy can be a dangerous practice -- particularly for a company 
that does not follow it!  It's unlikely that one site's policy will fit 
another site's needs exactly, so it's certainly a good idea to spend some 
time thinking about the privacy issue and, if necessary, creating a real 
policy that addresses specific needs.

         Finally, for a recent article on the legal issues affecting 
privacy policies, see the article "Online Privacy Policies and Practices 
Under Fire," at http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/sanzaro-2000-03-p1.html .

=======================
Douglas M. Isenberg
Attorney @ Law
Editor & Publisher, GigaLaw.com
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GigaLaw.com: "Legal Information for
Internet and Technology Professionals"
http://www.GigaLaw.com
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