Terms of service TOS or Terms of Use TOU are rules which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. The Terms-of-Service Agreement, is mainly used for legal purposes, by websites and internet service providers, that store a user’s personal data, such as e-commerce and social networking services. A legitimate terms-of-service agreement, is legally binding, and may be subject to change.
Terms and Conditions define the relationship with visitors to your website and must be agreed to before visitors can use the website. Every Internet based business model is singularly distinct and Terms and Conditions must be specifically drafted for the particular website it is designed to protect. Standard Terms and Conditions do not work for every kind of business. This is not a universal type of document so you should not simply adopt Terms and Conditions you find on someone else’s website. We at Juris Logium are specialized in drafting Internet Terms of Use that are built around specific products, markets, and end-goals.
Terms and Conditions can relate to a wide variety of topics, including class-action arbitration waivers, limitations of liability, anti-SPAM disclaimers, choice of applicable law, and the location of any lawsuits related to your website, among others. Properly drafted Terms of Use can help you if a dispute arises with respect to your website. Poorly drafted Terms and Conditions can lead to disputes with consumers, ensuing litigation.
When a customer is registering for the service, the entire Terms of Service should be presented in a clear readable format and ensure that the customer has read them. The e-commerce site should ensure that important terms and conditions are presented in a concise manner. It is safer if terms are presented near the “I Accept” button. An opportunity must be given to the customer to save or print the terms of service. The Terms of Service must be identifiable at a conspicuous place on the website, which will be easy to locate in case a customer needs to refer to them again.
Changes to terms of service must be bought to the notice of the customers in a prominent manner and customers must be given an opportunity to accept them. For example, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn do this very clearly by prompting users to a drop down box or a pop-up which requires them to take a click-based action, such as ‘Dismiss’ or ‘I Agree’. Ideally, there must also be a “Decline” button which should of the same size as the “I Agree” button, although few sites implement this. The e-commerce site should present or direct users to the terms and conditions every time a purchase is made at the site.
Another problem that the e-commerce sites might face relates to usage of the website by minors. It is essential that the website must mention in its terms of service that the service is available only to persons above 18 years of age. Typically websites such as YouTube require confirmation that the users are ‘above 18’ before granting access to certain types of content.
Terms and Conditions for purchase and sale should incorporate therein:
- Basis of the sale
- Orders and specifications
- Price of the goods/charges for the services
- Terms of payment
- Rights in input material and output material
- Delivery
- Warranties, liability and returns
- Repair, replace or give refunds for faulty goods
- Indemnity
- Insolvency
- Export terms
- Termination
- General and miscellaneous provisions such as severability, waiver, choice of law, entire agreement and giving notice?
- Orders and specifications
- What happens if the buyer fails to take delivery?
- Risk and property
- Warranties, liability and returns
- Do you offer a repair and maintenance service instead of a warranty?
- Data protection
For the service providers the TOU or TOS policy should incorporate therein
- Invoice
- The Quotation
- Brief
- Services
- Timetable
- Interpretations
- Trust &Co-Operation
- Authority
- Reports
- Limitation of Warranty
- No Alteration to Services or Design
- Obligations and Authority of the Client
- Appointment and Payment of Others
- Responsibilities of Others
- Fees for Performance of the Services
- Lump Sums
- Time Charges
- Extra Fees / Variations
- Services Not Completed
- Payment
- Late Payment
- Recovery of Costs
- GST
- Copyright
- Use of Information
- Liabilities and Insurance
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
- Suspensions of Services
Juris Logium assist in all ranges of Terms and Condition document drafting and reviewing.
