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Ask HN: Do I need T&C for side projects

40 points by kevTheDev ↗ HN
Hi,

I have developed a small side project which I will post on here when it's ready to go.

It's not meant to make any money and I only store a very small amount of info - it uses OpenID only to login/register.

Do I need a T&C / privacy policy?

If so, is there a template for one lying around? I don't want to spend much time on this - I want to launch the project and move on to the next one.

Cheers

kev_the_dev

25 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 75.4 ms ] thread
Mystalic
For your protection, you should always have one - liability can be a bitch.

As for a template? Scribd is always a good place to look.

loumf
Isn't that against the Scribd TOS?
zacharydanger
WordPress released theirs under creative commons and encourages others to use it. I'd recommend borrowing theirs.
teej
http://wordpress.com/tos/

Just a warning - Wordpress.com is using a 90s-inspired snow effect on the entire site. Why they chose to do so is beyond me. I seriously thought I was going blind at first, before I realized what was happening.

axod
White snow effect..... on a white background. Genius.
jonursenbach
Was thinking the same thing. Tells a lot about the kind of minds that are at Automattic.
bobz44
Meh... I kinda like it. The white background mutes the effect, makes it subtle and nice.

Or maybe that just condemns me to the same designer hell.

biohacker42
Yep.

However, it is worth thinking about these moments that come ever so often when there's a new and popular platform and a fart app can make you rich.

As soon as people find that out, it is no longer true as there will be thousands if not millions of fart apps.

But how to recognize the moment when fart apps can make you rich, or more aptly the moment just before that?

biohacker42
Errr... my comment above was meant for an entirely different thread!?!

The time when I could edit it has passed, mod me to invisibility.

[dead] ram1024
i doubt you need one for a non-business venture. just like you don't need one to run a website with forums or something.

but if you decide to host any user generated content or something it might be a good idea to throw some kinda disclaimer up

fendale
I have been thinking about this very problem myself recently.

To add to this question, would it make sense to setup a limited liability company to release a side project under? If something really goes wrong, and some big company or rich individual decides to sue you (for whatever reason), you probably don't want your personal assets to be up for grabs. As I understand it, if you are operating as a limited liability company, someone can sue your company out of existence and basically shut you down, but at least they cannot have your house or personal savings!

kevTheDev
I thought about this myself too.

But, if this is the case, releasing these side projects suddenly becomes a whole lot less fun (never mind desirable).

It even costs more.

If there were some kind of trustworthy company, that could act as an umbrella for side projects - i.e. standard T&C / privacy policy let the developer maintain some kind of ownership rights etc.

does this sound ridiculous?

pmjordan
Sourceforge? Google code?
kevTheDev
that's a good point that I had not thought of. But are these not just for open source stuff?

What if I don't want to go the open source route?

fendale
It doesn't sound ridiculous to me, but then I no little of the legalities behind it.

I am in the UK, and as I understand it, its only costs a few £100 to setup a PLC (private limited company) - the main overhead is that you have to post you accounts each year to companies house (which probably means you have to pay an accountant to help you).

It certainly is some hassle, but there are companies that will set it all up for you I believe. If you own a house or have significant savings I would certainly want them protected from some chancer who has decided you have infringed some patent or lost his data to hackers or stolen his idea etc. Defending something like this could be very expensive, so it may be easier to just close up shop and keep your day job!

cchooper
You mean a private limited company, not a public one (which requires £50,000 capital). The accounts are not difficult if your company doesn't do much, and you can incorporate for under £100.
fendale
You are correct - that was a typo. I edited above to correct it. If I ever get my side project moving toward completion, I intend to look into this side of things in the new year.
graemep
Still needs a correction - plc stands for public limited company and you still have that in there.
Bluem00
You could create an LLC once, and use that for all of your side projects. I did this myself, and it's even kinda fun; my state has good reference material, and the applicable laws are available online.

In Virginia, the requirements boiled down to (1) pick a name that isn't taken, (2) fill out and mail a particular form with a $100 check, (3) keep some paperwork that tracks shareholders - in your case there's just one - and assets.

You probably won't do as good a job as if you were a lawyer, so deciding to do it yourself depends on how seriously you think you need protection.

vaksel
I would do it, it'll take you like 5 extra minutes to copy paste something, and you'll avoid a lot of troubles.

I would still release it under a LLC you own, just to protect yourself. But if not, at least spend a few bucks to hide your whois info.

mhb
at least spend a few bucks to hide your whois info

How do you do that?

kevTheDev
your domain registrar should provide that option
voidfiles
any one know if there is legal a precedent. I mean isn't the internet just resoundingly unreliable. Why do we have to tell people things might not work like they thing they should?