Changing Online Terms of Use: How Detailed Must Notice Be?
In “Changing Online Terms of Use? Be Sure to Give Notice First!“, I explained that if you are going to change a website’s terms of use, you first need to provide notice that the terms have been changed and explain how they have been changed. This post – based on a Quora question and my answer – discusses how detailed the notice must be.
Unfortunately, there are no definitive rules regarding the level of detail that the notice must contain. I have two guidelines that I like to follow.
First, each change should be described briefly with reference to the applicable section or paragraph number. Examples:
- Section 7 – The order processing fee is increased from $5.00 to $10.00 effective January 1, 2011.
- Section 11 – Your indemnification obligations have been broadened.
- Section 15 – You now agree to waive your right to a jury trial for any dispute that arises under this Agreement.
Second, if you are in doubt, a prudent approach is to provide more, rather than less, detail in the notice.
Check out all posts about online terms.
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Dana H. Shultz, Attorney at Law +1 510-547-0545 dana [at] danashultz [dot] com
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