Legal Issues to Consider When Getting Online

Once you decide to publish online, whether by posting in a forum, joining a discussion group, blogging, or starting your own website, there are a host of legal issues that may come into play. Understanding your legal rights -- and potential sources of liability -- can help you make an intelligent choice as to what platform you use and what precautions you take when you speak online. Some of the most important issues to consider are free speech protections, anonymity, ownership of content, and vulnerability to others' copyright claims.

While a number of factors can influence the scope of your rights and liabilities online, the most important is often the "Terms of Use" (or "Terms and Conditions," "Terms of Service" etc.) that you agree to when you sign up for a website account, blog- or web-hosting service. Whether you read these terms or not, they form a legally binding contract between you and the service operator, and in fact govern much of the relationship between you and that site.

It is true that these "Terms of Use" sections can appear difficult to understand: they often contain legal jargon, and may be divided into several webpages (for example, a basic "Terms of Use" page may link to a separate "Privacy Policy"). However, the more aware you are of the terms you are agreeing to, the better you will understand your legal rights and risks. Further, being aware of the differences in the terms of service for using different sites can help you find a platform for your online activities that is appropriate to your specific needs. Please see the section on Evaluating Terms of Service for a comparison of some of the more important terms you might encounter.

Free Speech Protection

If you live in the United States, you have a First Amendment right to engage in speech on the Internet. This legal principle allows you to use the Internet as a powerful medium to communicate facts, ideas, and opinions. However, there are two important limits on your online activities which you should be aware of:

• Certain kinds of conduct and speech, such as defamation, are not legally protected.

• Private website operators and hosting services can control what kind of speech appears on their site and servers.

These limits may threaten your ability to publish certain types of content online, especially if you are making a controversial point or are criticizing somebody. You may face situations where your online activity approaches the legal "grey area" between speech that is protected and speech that is not, and offended persons may pressure your hosting service or website operator to remove material that they consider unlawful or simply do not like. Many web hosts will remove content or cancel your account if they receive a complaint or deem content offensive, assuming their terms of service permit them to do so.

Regardless of their public stance on free speech issues, hosting services and websites that allow users to create or submit content enjoy immunity in the United States when it comes to claims of defamation, privacy, and other similar torts based on the activities of their users. This means that hosting services and website operators do not have to remove content just because someone complains about it, and they are protected from liability even when they are on notice of the potential defamatory character of the statements. For more information on this law, see our primer on the Communications Decency Act ("CDA 230").

Unfortunately, many hosting services and website operators are not aware of CDA 230's protections. You may need to remind your hosting service of CDA 230 if they claim they must remove your material. Keep in mind, however, that your hosting service likely has the contractual right to remove your material regardless of their exposure to liability, depending on what their terms of use say.

If you think your content might be controversial, you should think about what sort of platform or service will protect your speech most strongly. You have perhaps the least amount of protection when posting on somebody else's blog or message board, as a moderator can generally remove any post at any time. Starting your own blog gives you more room to operate, but blog-hosting sites generally impose some restrictions on the content that you can post. If you are planning to start a blog, you should carefully consult each hosting provider's terms & conditions to see which site is the most protective of free speech. The section of this guide that provides a evaluation of terms of service might also be helpful.

You are likely to have the most freedom if you start your own website. If you are thinking of starting your own site to publish controversial material, you should consider the extent to which your hosting company will respect your freedom of speech. Sometimes, when faced with a speech-related lawsuit, hosting sites will sacrifice your freedom of speech and send you looking for a new home on the Internet. This type of action is most likely to occur with large, mainstream web hosts that have many users and a public reputation to worry about.

If you know that you will be covering a controversial subject or expressing a controversial opinion, you may want to consider one of the hosts that make an explicit effort to respect free speech rights. Computer Tyme and Project DoD are two examples of web hosts that make it a point to protect free speech. You can find other examples of web hosts that are proud of their free speech stance on the Dedicated Hosting Guide's post "Free Speech Hosting: 11 Web Hosts That Won’t Dump You at the First Sign of Controversy."

You should also keep in mind that your choice of a domain name registrar could have an impact on your ability to keep your site up and running in the face of legal threats.  In early 2007, CNET conducted a survey of registrars to see which were more "free speech friendly."  They found that the French registrar Gandi.net and New Orleans-based DirectNIC offered the most extensive guarantees against unnecessary domain name suspensions.

Another category of speech that may be removed from a website is speech that allegedly infringes on somebody else's copyright. For information on this subject, please read the section regarding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Anonymity

Many people choose to engage in online speech anonymously, or under a pseudonym, for a variety of reasons. For information on making this decision, please see our section on deciding whether to publish anonymously.

While you have a right to engage in anonymous speech in the U.S., there are certain situations in which you can lose this protection. For one, certain sites simply do not allow their users to be anonymous. Social networking sites, for example, like Facebook, often require their users to act under their real names. Accordingly, you should consider a site's terms of service on this subject if anonymity is important to you.

Further, others can use a lawsuit to discover the identity of an anonymous Internet user. For more information on this danger, please consult our sectio on Potential Legal Challenges to Anonymity.

Some sites are more protective of their users' anonymity than others. Of course, virtually any service will reveal your information if served with valid legal process -- otherwise the company would be in contempt of court. But there are still ways to protect yourself. If you are choosing between blog-hosting sites, be aware that Blogger and LiveJournal (but not TypePad) do not require names or credit card numbers for registration. By signing up through an anonymizing service, like Tor, and using an anonymous e-mail account, you gain greater protection from being unmasked, even in the face of a subpoena to the web-hosting service.

If protecting your anonymity is important to you, please consult our list of technical precautions you can take to protect your anonymity ahead of a potential lawsuit.

Ownership of Content

When you post your original text, video, or audio on a website, the terms and conditions of the website determine whether you keep ownership of it, whether the site owns it, or if there is a more complicated arrangement. For example, with blogging sites, it is common for you to retain ownership of the original material you post, but the blogging site has the rights to reproduce or publish the content for promotional purposes. Here is an example of such a provision from the terms of use for Six Apart, which owns the blog-hosting site TypePad:

Six Apart does not claim ownership of the Content you upload, place or post through this Site or the Services. By uploading, placing or posting Content through this Site or the Services, you grant Six Apart a world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting such Content on Six Apart's Internet properties. This license exists only for as long as you continue to be a Six Apart customer and shall be terminated at the time your Account is terminated.

Please see the section on Evaluating Terms of Service for a comparison of some of the sites you may be considering.

Vulnerability to Copyright Claims

If somebody thinks that your online activities are infringing their copyright, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act may come into play. The DMCA is a federal law that establishes how website operators -- such as blog-hosting sites -- can avoid liability if a copyright holder notifies them that one of their users is engaging in infringing activity or has posted infringing content. It is common for hosting sites to have a section describing their DMCA procedure, including what a copyright holder must do to notify the hosting site of alleged infringement by a user, when the hosting site will take down user material that is alleged to be infringing, when and how the hosting site will notify the user of the DMCA allegation, and what the user can do to respond to the allegation and get their material back up on the site. By way of example, here is Google's DMCA policy.

If you receive notification that your material has been the subject of a DMCA notice, Chilling Effects has a helpful section describing what this means and how to respond. Also please refer to our section on responding to a DMCA takedown notice if your material is removed.

Evaluating Terms of Service

This section discusses and compares the key "terms of use" (or equivalent sections) you are likely to encounter when you are evaluating various online services. We've grouped these services into three general categories: social networking sites, blog-hosting services, and web-hosting services. Of course, some of these categories blend into each other, but you should be able to get a general idea of how the terms of service vary among the various types of sites and between individual sites themselves. Please keep in mind that a site's terms of use can -- and often do -- change frequently. This section is only a general guide. Be sure and read the actual terms of service before agreeing to use any of the services listed here.

Social Networking Sites

This section compares the terms of use for two of the most popular social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace. Facebook's terms are contained in its Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, its Content Code of Conduct, and its Copyright Policy. MySpace's terms are contained in its Terms of Use Agreement and Privacy Policy. Below are summaries of how the various sites' terms of use treat key aspects of your legal relationship with the site.

• Age Minimum: Facebook requires its users to be 13 years old and, if they are under 18, to be in high school or college. MySpace requires its users to be 14 years old.

• Content Limits: Facebook covers this subject in its Content Code of Conduct, MySpace in its Terms of Use Agreement. Both sites reserve the right to delete material and terminate accounts as they decide, and each also has many specific limits on content, involving material that is sexually explicit, violent, hateful, defamatory, encourages or instructs illegal activity. MySpace forbids you to post a photograph of another person without their consent, and to promote an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's work. MySpace also forbids you from covering or obscuring banner adds on your or any other MySpace page.

• Access to Your Personal Information: Each site has the relevant information in its privacy policy (here is Facebook's and here is MySpace's). Facebook, but not MySpace, is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program and participates in the Department of Commerce's Safe Harbor Privacy Framework. Both sites limit the situations in which they will share your personal information with other parties. Both of them will disclose information if it is required by law, and in situations involving a threat to someone's safety. Facebook also states that it may share information with other service providers to facilitate Facebook's services; in this situation, they "implement reasonable contractual and technical protections limiting the use of that information to the Facebook-specified purposes." In the event of a sale of the company, Facebook states that user information will still be covered by the Privacy Policy. MySpace does not make such a statement but does promise to notify users of any significant change in its privacy policy.

• Ownership of Content: Both Facebook's and MySpace's terms of use explicitly state that they have no ownership of the content that their users post; however, both grant themselves license to use the user-posted content in particular ways. In both cases, the license is non-exclusive, worldwide, fully paid (MySpace's is also explicitly royalty-free), and includes a right to sublicense. MySpace's terms of use contain a useful explanation of what some of these terms mean. Facebook's terms of use also note that the license is irrevocable, perpetual, and transferable. (See the section on licensing for more information.) For both sites, what this basically means is that they can use, display, and distribute your content in almost any way they see fit. Facebook's terms also give it the right to translate the user content, prepare derivative works of it, or incorporate it into other works. Neither site limits the purposes for which it can use this license. In both cases, the license expires when the user removes their material from the site.

• DMCA Policy: Facebook describes its procedures in its Copyright Policy, MySpace in its Terms of Use Agreement. Both describe DMCA notice procedures, but only Facebook describes counter-notice procedures. Both sites have policies of terminating the accounts of users who are repeat infringers (Facebook mentions this, not in its Copyright Policy, but in its Terms of Use).

• Lawsuit-related Terms: Facebook's terms are governed by Delaware law, MySpace's by California law. Facebook's terms state that all disputes relating to the site (except for some involving intellectual property or injunctive relief) will be settled under arbitration; MySpace's terms state that either the user or MySpace may demand that any dispute be settled by arbitration. For any cases in court, Facebook's terms state that the case will be heard in the state or federal courts of California; MySpace's terms state that such cases will be heard in state or federal courts in Los Angeles specifically.

Blog-Hosting Sites

This section compares the terms of use for several of the most popular services that provide blog-hosting: Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress. Please note that each of the sites covered here is part of a larger company (in Blogger's case, Google; in TypePad's case, Six Apart; in WordPress's case, Automattic). Therefore, both companies' policies are relevant to the overall legal relationship between you and the blog-hosting site (For simplicity's sake, in this section "Blogger" will refer to both Blogger and Google; "TypePad" to both TypePad and Six Apart; and "WordPress" to both WordPress and Automattic.). For your reference, here are the key documents for each site:

Blogger: Blogger Terms of Service, Blogger Content Policy, Google Terms of Service, Google Privacy Policy, Google DMCA Policy.

TypePad: TypePad Terms of Services, Six Apart General Terms of Use, Six Apart Privacy Policy.

WordPress: WordPress Terms of Service, Automattic Privacy Policy, Automattic DMCA Policy.

Below are summaries of how the various sites' terms of use treat key aspects of your legal relationship with the site.

• Age Minimum: Blogger requires that you are at least 13 years old. TypePad does not have an age minimum, but users under age 13 must have a parent or guardian review and complete the registration process. WordPress does not have an age minimum.

• Content Limits: All three sites have similar rules forbidding content that is obscene, defamatory, hateful (particularly along racial or ethnic lines), violates someone else's privacy, or that you do not have the right to post. Google and TypePad, but not WordPress, forbid you to promote illegal activities. There are some small differences in how the sites describe these various limits, but all three sites reserve the right to remove content at their discretion. Therefore, if you are posting something that many people would find objectionable, even if it is not specifically forbidden in the terms of services, you should be aware that the hosting site might take down the content nonetheless. One difference between Blogger and the other sites is that it asks that explicit material be made private, and that Google may put such material behind an interstitial page warning other users.

• Access to Your Personal Information: Each site has a privacy policy separate from its other terms (see Blogger's, TypePad's, and WordPress's). All three sites collect some personal data, and all agree not to disclose your data except in limited circumstances. For all three sites, they permit themselves to disclose your information when they are subject to valid legal process, when needed to enforce the company's terms or protect its rights, or to prevent some kind of harms to others. They also will share users' personal data as part of their business relationships. When they do this, Blogger and WordPress require the business partners to agree to their privacy policy or confidentiality agreements; TypePad gets these kind of agreements from their partner companies when it is "practical." WordPress's terms state that they will not sell or rent personally-identifying information to anyone. Blogger and TypePad's terms each have provisions describing what will happen if their company (including the data it has collected) is sold: Blogger will provide notice before such a transfer, and TypePad will keep its information subject to the same privacy policy, or to a new one that you will have the chance to consent to. Blogger has an opt-in consent for their sharing "sensitive information" (which includes confidential medical information, racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs or sexuality and tied to personal information). Of the three sites, only Blogger is registered with the U.S. Department of Commerce's safe harbor program.

• Ownership of Content: For all three sites, when you submit material to the site, you grant the site a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (please see our section explaining transfers and licenses) to publish content you post on your blog for the purpose of promoting your content and/or the site's services. TypePad's and WordPress's licenses also give them the right to modify or adapt the content as well. TypePad's license terminates when your blog account is terminated; WordPress makes reasonable efforts, when you delete content, to remove it from the website; Blogger's terms give no indication as to when their license expires. Blogger's and TypePad's terms explicitly say that they assert no ownership claim over the content you have submitted; WordPress's terms do not say this.

• DMCA Policy: Blogger and WordPress each have their DMCA policy in a special section (see Blogger's and WordPress's); for TypePad it is within Six Apart's General Terms of Use. All three companies may take down material in response to a notice of copyright infringement, and each will make a good-faith effort to notify the party whose allegedly-infringing content was taken down. All three declare that they might terminate the accounts of repeat copyright infringers. All three give instructions as to how to file a notice of infringement; Blogger and TypePad (but not WordPress) describe how to file a counter-notification. Unlike the other two sites, Blogger states that it may forward the notices of infringement it receives to Chilling Effects, a public interest group that protects online speech, for publication.

• Lawsuit-related Terms: All three of the sites' terms of use are governed under California law, and all provide that any lawsuits arising out of your relationship with the company will be heard in certain courts in the San Francisco Bay Area (for TypePad and WordPress, San Francisco; for Blogger, Santa Clara County). WordPress, unlike the other two sites, provides that most claims arising out of the terms and conditions will be settled through arbitration.

Website-Hosting Services

There are almost as many styles of website hosting service as there are websites on the Internet. This section discusses three examples and how the various sites' terms of use treat key aspects of your legal relationship with the service provider. Go Daddy and Network Solutions are major commercial hosting services, while Project DoD is a “member supported non profit collective intent upon helping the public gain access to tools that are needed for the dissemination of information.” Go Daddy’s terms and policies include Universal Terms of Service and a Hosting Service Agreement, Network Solutions’s extensive policies are centrally indexed as part of its Service Agreement, and Project DoD’s terms are located on the main hosting page.

• Age Minimum: Go Daddy’s age minimum is 18; Project DoD’s terms set no minimum. Network Solutions requires that registrants be 13 years old with parental permission unless they are “of legal age to enter into this agreement.”

• Content Limits: Hosting companies tend to be aggressive in their content prohibitions; all three providers retain the right to remove content at their discretion. Project DoD’s terms are the least explicitly restrictive regarding specific types of content: “porn,” “hate sites,” “content that is targeted at offending any ethnic group,” “threaten[ing] or intimidat[ing] anyone,” “any activity which is likely to cause” harm to minors, “any action which encourages or consists of any threat of harm of any kind to any person or property,” and “inappropriate communication” on newsgroups, mailing lists, etc. are prohibited. Go Daddy’s terms prohibit “any material that, to a reasonable person may be abusive, obscene, pornographic, defamatory, harassing, grossly offensive, vulgar, threatening or malicious” and, if you use the free ad-supported option, “content intended to advocate or advance computer hacking or cracking, gambling, illegal activity, drug paraphernalia, hate, violence or racial or ethnic intolerance.” Network Solutions' Acceptable Use Policy contains the broadest restrictions of the three, barring “material that is obscene, defamatory, libelous, unlawful, harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, constitutes an illegal threat, violates export control laws, hate propaganda, fraudulent material or fraudulent activity, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature.” In addition, Network Solutions prohibits “material that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, gives rise to civil liability,” or holds “Network Solutions (including its affiliates) or their employees or shareholders up to public scorn, ridicule, or defamation.” Several of the Network Solutions provisions may be of particular concern to journalists.

• Access to Your Personal Information: Project DoD’s site does not offer a privacy policy, but does require that users of its hosting services obtain express written consent of any person from whom the user collects personal information. Go Daddy and Network Solutions maintain privacy policies separate from their other terms (see Go Daddy’s and Network Solutions’s). Both Go Daddy and Network Solutions agree not to disclose your personal information except in limited circumstances. For example, they permit themselves to disclose your information when they are subject to valid legal process or as required to provide you with the services you request. Go Daddy indicates that its business partners may require that it share your personal information but that it will not do so without your explicit permission, and provides that when sending a “co-branded” email solicitation it will make clear whether Go Daddy’s own privacy policy or that of its business partner is applicable. Network Solutions does not offer similar assurances. Go Daddy provides five methods of altering your personal information or opting out of solicitations, including telephone, while Network Solutions provides only an online system. Both providers will post changes to their privacy policies 30 days in advance of the changes taking effect, but only Network Solutions invites you to notify them by email if you wish to opt out of a future change (language in the Service Agreement itself, however, indicates that the alternative to agreeing to such changes is to terminate the agreement). If you terminate your account, Go Daddy “deactivates” it but retains it “in order to resolve disputes or enforce” agreements. Go Daddy is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program and is a member of the Anti-Phishing Working Group. Both Go Daddy and Network Solutions sell “private domain name registration” that prevents your personal contact information from being accessible via the WHOIS system.

• Ownership of Content: Network Solutions retains only a license to cache your site. Go Daddy’s agreement appears to imply that you will be transferring the copyright in your content to Go Daddy when you use its services, by stating that "Go Daddy grants to You, and You accept from Go Daddy, a non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty free license to copy, display, use and transmit on and via the Internet Your website content in connection with Go Daddy's performance or enforcement of this Agreement." We couldn't find any other language in Go Daddy's terms of service that explains why you would need a license from Go Daddy to use your own content. We suggest that you seek clarification from Go Daddy before agreeing to this strange licensing provision in their terms of service. Project DoD’s terms of service make no mention of it acquiring any rights in your content.

• DMCA Policy: Project DoD’s terms require that you agree not to infringe copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other proprietary rights but do not elaborate on the service’s DMCA policy. Go Daddy has a dedicated Trademark and/or Copyright Infringement Policy providing detailed instructions on submission of violation claims, while Network Solutions provides that information on a general Legal Notice page. Go Daddy and Network Solutions both indicate that they will take down material in response to a notice of copyright infringement; Go Daddy also indicates that it will take reasonable steps to notify the party whose allegedly-infringing content was taken down, including providing a copy of the complaint. Go Daddy indicates that it may terminate the account of repeat infringers and provides detailed instructions as to how to file a counter-notification.

• Lawsuit-related Terms: Project DoD’s terms set no particular conditions relating to lawsuits. Both Go Daddy and Network Solutions require that you indemnify them against any liability resulting from your use of their services; both services retain the right to employ their own counsel, but Network Solutions further specifies that you remain solely responsible for their defense and must obtain their written consent to a settlement. In addition, you must agree to notify Go Daddy of a pending suit claiming you have violated a third party’s intellectual property rights. Both companies require that you confirm your indemnification in case of a lawsuit; failure to do so may be considered a breach of your terms of service. Go Daddy specifies that the agreement is governed by Arizona law and that any action arising from the agreement will be brought in Maricoa County, while Network Solutions specifies that the laws of Virginia govern the agreement and that suits under the agreement will be brought in the United States District Court in Alexandria or, if the federal courts have no jurisdiction, the state court in Fairfax County. Both Go Daddy and Network Solutions require that you waive your right to trial by jury, but neither requires arbitration.

• Service Availability: Project DoD’s terms make no mention of service availability, and Network Solutions emphatically disclaims any promises on the topic. Go Daddy, on the other hand, indicates that – subject to various rather broad conditions – it “shall attempt to provide” service at all times and that if it fails – by its own calculations – to provide service for 99.9% of a given month, you can request a credit of 5% of your monthly fee.

Starting Your Own Website

Starting your own website may be the most appealing option for getting your words and content out to the world, particularly if you are planning to engage in journalism or otherwise need a site that can grow in size or complexity. There are several things you will need to do to create your own website:

1. Choose and register a domain name


2. Decide how and where to host your website


3. Develop and publish your website

Choosing and Registering a Domain Name

The first step in establishing a website is to register a domain name. While Google search has, perhaps, mitigated the importance of having a catchy domain name, the ability to reach a site quickly may prove a marketing boon, so a domain name should preferably be short, catchy, and intuitive if at all possible. If your online activities are being done as a part of a business, it probably makes sense to select a domain name that is related to the name of your business. If you haven't already chosen a business name, see the section on Trademark Law and Naming Your Business for more information.

Many people recommend choosing a URL ending in .com as opposed to .org or .net if at all possible because that is what people tend to put at the end of a web address by default, although dot org endings can emphasize, if appropriate, your site's nonprofit status or the public service nature of your work. Also, if your site is directed solely towards people in your own country, a country-specific domain name may be cheaper to register.

You can check the availability of a domain name through domain registration companies such as Network Solutions, 1&1 Internet, or Dotster. This is hardly an exhaustive list; most domain registration companies will allow you to check the availability of names on their site (and may also provide helpful suggestions if your preferred name is taken).

Once you have settled on a domain name, you will need to register it through a domain registration service. Wikipedia has a list of the largest domain registrars that you can use to as a starting point. Some of the website hosting companies discussed in this guide might also be able to register a domain name for you as part of their hosting package. Keep in mind, however, that it is generally not advisable to transfer control of your domain name to your web host; most hosting services have no obligation to release the domain name should a you decide to switch to another hosting company.

How and Where to Host Your Website

If you are technically savvy and have the necessary equipment, you can host your website on a home or business server that you control. For most people, however, the choice will be between free and paid commercial website hosting services. While free hosts sound attractive, there are several major (often intolerable) disadvantages: first, many have unattractive and distracting advertising, such as pop-ups; second, many are plagued by servers that often crash and have customer service reps that are unresponsive to complaints or requests for technical help; and third, they have a reputation for going out of business without warning. (They are, nevertheless, free.)

There are also a large number of paid hosting companies that provide service of varying quality. Some hosting services charge a flat fee for hosting (with certain file storage and bandwidth caps), while other hosting services have flexible charges based on bandwidth used. The best paid services, however, are more stable than free companies and will provide you with needed technical support. When looking for a web hosting company, consider:

• Bandwidth: This is a measure of data transfer from a website over a period of time (usually monthly), typically based on users accessing the site or downloading content. Bandwidth allocation varies by type of service (free services typically have the lowest bandwidth caps), with paid services often having tiered pricing based on bandwidth usage.

• File Storage: This is a measure of the size of files comprising your website that a hosting service will store. While most free hosting services will provide enough storage for most text-based websites, adding photos, video and other multimedia or large file types will typically necessitate something greater than the storage amounts included in basic offerings.

• Technical Support: Web hosting companies advertise the availability of their tech support, often offering around-the-clock assistance. Some experts recommend calling at night or on the weekends before signing up to see if the phones are actually answered, as well as sending an e-mail with a routine question to gauge the length of time before help is proffered.

• Uptime Percentage: This is the amount of time a company’s servers are operational, measured as a percentage over a certain period of time (the higher the percentage, the more often the servers are available and working). A number of independent sites track uptime percentages, including Freehosting.net.

• Surge in Traffic: It is important that a web host have plans in place in case of a sudden increase in numbers of visitors to a site (which may lead a site to crash).

• FTP Access: FTP (otherwise known as File Transfer Protocol) is the most common way to upload files to a website; most hosting services offer uploading via this protocol, and it is important to know how to access it for efficient uploading.

• E-mail: This allows you to associate e-mail addresses to your domain name (i.e. to have an e-mail address that reads yourname@domain.com). Web hosts vary as to the number of e-mail addresses allowed and the e-mail functionality they provide.

• Other Features: Common Gateway Interface technology (CGI) and PHP are functionalities that allow more sophisticated site developers to add dynamic content to a site; some hosts have ready-made CGI features or can add them for you. Additionally, some hosts have Microsoft Frontpage extensions that allow beginners to add features similar to CGI (although in a more limited and failure-prone way). You might also want to shop for a host whose software supports video or other multimedia content.

• Price: Depending on the amount of space, bandwidth, and functionality you need, the fee can range from extremely low to quite high. Most hosting services offer a range of plans that will provide you with more or less space or features. Which of these plans is best will depend on your particular needs. Your hosting plan will come with a certain amount of bandwidth; it is prudent to determine the charges you will incur should you unexpectedly increase your bandwidth (a possibility if you unexpectedly become very popular or break a hot story).

Developing and Publishing Your Website

Most guides to creating webpages recommend that you learn at least some HTML (or hire someone who knows it). While programs like Dreamweaver and Front Page will allow you to create webpages without knowing HTML, having some working knowledge of the subject is the best way to ensure that your page looks how you intend it to be, that errors aren't introduced in the process of translating your page into HTML, and that your page doesn't contain unnecessary code that will eat up your bandwidth.

If you want to learn HTML, there are a number of on-line tutorials that treat the subject in varying depths. J-Learning has a tutorial meant specifically for citizen journalists that covers XHTML, which combines traditional HTML with a newer technology, XML. HTML Goodies and Webmonkey have HTML tutorials for beginners.

If you do not want to learn HTML, you might consider building your webpage with a web page design program, roughly equivalent to a word processor. These include Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe GoLive, Microsoft FrontPage, and Microsoft Publisher, and they allow you to type in text and add pictures using the types of graphical icons and familiar applications that are found in most software suites. While this has obvious advantages, they also have a tendency to add unnecessary and unwanted code and to appear quite different on the program's preview screen than on the finished webpage. If you know some HTML code, however, it is possible to use these programs to do your initial design and then to edit the HTML manually.

Some web-hosts also provide their own website building software, which can make it very easy to create your site. If you are using your web-host's software, all you generally need to do to publish or upload your files to the web is hit "publish" or "submit." If you are using another type of software to create your site, the process might be slightly more complicated. To publish from Microsoft Front Page, the Front Page extensions must be enabled by your web host; many do this automatically, however some require that you specifically ask. If the extensions are enabled, you need only click the "Publish to Web" button and follow the instructions given, which will mean entering your domain name and the user name and password given to you by your web-host.

Other software will probably require you to install FTP software which will transfer files from your computer to the web host. WS_FTP is one such program.

Using a Blog-Hosting Service

If you're looking to start a blog, a blog-hosting service may be a good place for an amateur, or sometimes even a professional, to launch one. If you're interested in getting online as quickly as possible, and don't need a formal blog, you might also want to consider using a social networking site, such as Facebook or MySpace, which will allow you to create a blog-like profile page. If you haven't yet reviewed the section of this guide on evaluating different online platforms, you should do so before committing to use one of these services.

There are several factors to consider before choosing a blog-hosting service, such as cost, permitted advertising, customization, and terms of use. Choose carefully, as it is difficult to switch blog-hosting services later and maintain the same readership.

There are a number of blog-hosting services available. For the sake of brevity this section discuss the three most popular services: Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress. We do not endorse any of these services. You should select a blog-hosting service that meets your specific needs. Many of the services' elements below are marked with a + for a positive aspect of the service, - for a negative, and = for an aspect that is neutral.

Please keep in mind that a site's terms of use can -- and often do -- change frequently. Be sure and read the actual terms of service before agreeing to use any of the services listed here.

Blogger

Blogger is one of the oldest and largest blogging sites around and is where most people will probably start their first blog. If you want to see what blogging is all about or if you are anxious to start blogging now, Blogger may be a good fit for you. If you want a lot of customization and flexibility, however, you may want to consider other sites. On the other hand, Blogger is reliable, flexible, and its Terms of Service provide a journalism-friendly approach to content removal.

Functionality and Ease-of-Use:

+ Very easy: Blogger claims that you can expect to start blogging within ten minutes of your initial visit to the site.

+ Template access: Blogger allows access to template codes.

- Categories: Blogger lacks any method to categorize posts other than by date.

- Blogging only: Blogger doesn't support non-blog pages, files storage, etc. Just blogs.

= Age: According to Blogger's Terms of Service, you must be at least 13 years old to use Blogger.

= Customization: While it is easy to set up one of the basic, plain templates, more significant customization takes quite a bit of HTML and CSS knowledge. The available templates are attractive, but due to Blogger's popularity, they all look familiar, and it may be difficult to make a name for your blog if it looks just like a million others.

Features:

• Blogs are given a .blogspot.com subdomain. If you create a blog called Blog123, your address would be blog123.blogspot.com.

• Blogger allows you to use its software on your own website. For example, if you own "www.MyBlog.com," you could use Blogger like normal but then send the Blogger files to your website so that a visit to MyBlog.com doesn't just redirect to your Blogger page, but actually displays your blog on MyBlog.com. Using Blogger this way -- when combined with some quality customization -- gives you the same ease-of-use, but you gain credibility because of you are set apart from the masses who are using Blogger on its ordinary platform.

• Blogger allows you to easily upload video to incorporate into your blog either as an embedded clip or a regular videocast.

• AudioBlogger is a great feature that allows you to dial a number on your phone and easily post audio recordings to your blog.

• There are no traffic or storage limits.

• The Google Toolbar has a feature that allows users with Blogger accounts to post links directly to their blogs.

Terms of Service: Here are portions of Blogger's terms of service that may be relevant to journalists. Each bulleted summary is followed by the actual text in smaller print. Blogger is owned by Google, therefore the Google Terms of Service will be applied to Blogger users as well.

From Google's Terms of Service

• Google reserves the right to remove whatever content it wants, whenever it wants from any of its sites. Fortunately, through a terms of service document specifically created for Blogger (see below), it clarifies how it treats content in that area of its services:

Google reserves the right (but shall have no obligation) to pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse or remove any or all Content from any Service.

From Blogger's Content Policy

• Blogger makes their respect for freedom of speech more overt than other sites:

We respect our users' ownership of and responsibility for the content they choose to share. It is our belief that censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression.

• Users can flag content they deem offensive. If Blogger finds the flagged material offensive, it may place a warning page before your blog, refrain from publicizing your blog on its main page, or remove it. All sites reserve the right to remove content. It is rare that a service provider will investigate user claims in this manner and pursue remedies other than removal:

Hate speech and other objectionable content may be flagged for review by our users. When this happens, Blogger reserves the right to warn others of the potentially offensive content through the use of a warning page. Other content, such as adult material, may be depublicized so that it does not appear in frequently-trafficked places such as the homepage of Blogger.com. Just because a given blog has received votes through this mechanism does not mean that any particular action will be taken. For example, blogs that are flagged because readers disagree with the political opinions expressed in a blog will not be acted upon.

• Blogger is not hasty to remove content on a simple notice of a yet unproven defamation accusation:

Users should not publish any content that is unlawful, defamatory, and fraudulent. Note that an allegation of defamatory expression, in and of itself, does not establish defamation. The truth or falsehood of a bit of expression is a key element in establishing defamation, and we are not in a position to make that sort of fact-based judgment. That said, if we have reason to believe that a particular statement is defamatory (a court order, for example), we will remove that statement.

• Blogger responds to copyright complaints in the manner prescribed by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act:

It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). If we remove a blog/post or disable access to a blog to comply with the DMCA, we will make a good-faith attempt to contact the owner or administrator of each affected site so that they may make a counter notification pursuant to section 512(g)(2) and (3) of the DMCA. It is our policy to document all notices of alleged infringement on which we act. A copy of the notice, with any personally identifying information removed, will be sent to a third party who will make it available to the public. Please note that in addition to being forwarded to the person who provided the allegedly infringing content, a copy of this legal notice may be sent to a third-party partner for publication and annotation. As such, your letter (with your personal information removed) may be forwarded to Chilling Effects (http://www.chillingeffects.org) for publication.

 

The administrator of an affected site or the provider of affected content may make a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When we receive a counter notification, we may reinstate the material in question. To file a counter notification with us, you must provide a written communication (by fax or regular mail -- not by email, except by prior agreement) that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is not infringing the copyrights of others. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether certain material infringes the copyrights of others, we suggest that you first contact an attorney. A sample counter notification may be found at http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca/counter512.pdf.

Advertising: Blogger automatically integrates with Google AdSense. It also allows access to the blog template code to enable use of ads from different sources. This functionality may make Blogger the most desirable of the free sites for traditional and non-traditional journalists seeking to make money from their blogs.

Cost: All of Blogger's services are free.

Example Sites: outonthestoop.blogspot.com; googleearthlings.blogspot.com

TypePad

TypePad is popular among professionals, but isn't free and doesn't cater to beginners. There are loads of features, but make sure to check out TypePad's price comparison chart, so that you know what you're paying for. If you are familiar with other services offered by TypePad's parent company, Six Apart, you may have an idea of how TypePad works. Six Apart is the force behind Live Journal and, perhaps less well-known, Movable Type. Movable Type is the blogging program TypePad utilizes, which you can download and install on your web server for free (as long as it's for non-commercial use). See Movable Type's website for more information.

Functionality and Ease-of-Use:

+ Customization: TypePad has extensive customization options, including the ability to create sidebars. However, the full array of possibilities is only available to those with the most expensive accounts. Customization is complicated, but does not require learning a programming language.

+ Code Access: TypePad allows access to the template code, but only to the most expensive accounts.

Features: The availability of these features will vary depending on which type of account you sign up for. Some are available to all levels, while others may only be accessed by those with the highest-cost memberships:

• Typelists makes it easy to build lists and connect items on those lists with web sites without changing anything in your templates.
• Categories allow you or your reader to view certain groupings of posts.
• Domain name forwarding is available.
• They will automatically notify Google, Technorati, and other blog search engines when your blog is updated.
• Lots of anti-spam tools.
• Blog by email.
• Blog with certain cell phones.
• Photo galleries (as opposed to normal picture-in-post functionality).
• Storage limits based on membership range from 100MB to 3GB.
• Bandwidth limits based on membership range from 2GB to 20GB.

Terms of Service: Here are portions of TypePad's terms of service that may apply to journalists. Each bulleted summary is followed by the text in smaller print.

From TypePad's Terms of Use

• If the credit card you use expires, TypePad may delete all of your information:

If your credit card is invalid for any reason, the Service may be canceled and all the information contained within deleted permanently. Six Apart accepts no liability for information that is deleted due to an invalid credit card.

• TypePad can delete your account and any of your content at its discretion, without prior notice. Any money you've paid for an account will not be refunded:

You agree Six Apart, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, and/or account, and remove and discard any Content within the Service (including, but not limited to your Blog Site if you are an Account Holder), for any reason, including and without limitation, the lack of use, or if Six Apart believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS. Any contracts, verbal or written or assumed, in conjunction with your deleted Blog Site (as applicable) and all its parts, at Six Apart's discretion, will be terminated as well. Six Apart may also in its sole discretion and at any time, discontinue providing the Service, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Service under any provision of this TOS may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that Six Apart may immediately deactivate or delete your Blog Site, as applicable, and all related information and files. Six Apart reserves the right to bar any further access to such files or the Service. You agree that Six Apart shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Service. Paid accounts that are terminated will not be refunded.

• TypePad will disclose (and, alternatively, preserve) your content in response to legally valid requests for documents from parties in litigation and in other contexts when it believes that disclosure is necessary to protect its rights or respond to claims that your content violates the rights of others:

You acknowledge and agree that Six Apart may preserve Content and may also disclose Content if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce the TOS; (c) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Six Apart, its users and the public.

• Offensive material is not allowed:

You agree that you will not: (a) upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy (up to, but not excluding any address, email, phone number, or any other contact information without the written consent of the owner of such information), hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable.

• If you are a high-level user (one that pays for an expensive membership) and utilize TypePad's proprietary advertising services, the company reserves the right to withhold money from you for various fees. Also, there are several ways that you can lose your ability to access, use, or withdraw your reported earnings:

(You can lose your ability to access, use, or withdraw your earnings for reasons including, but not limited to): (a) If you in any way violate or otherwise breach this TOS and/or the TOU; (b) If you engage in any activity intended to, or the result of which could or would, defraud Six Apart or any third party, including, without limitation, with respect to any advertising activity arising on your Blog Site, taking any action to inflate or otherwise manipulate traffic or click-through counts from your Blog Site to participating advertisers or merchants through the use of any manual or automating device, program, robot or other automated means, or otherwise permitting or allowing any third party to conduct the foregoing, including via repeated manual clicks. You understand and agree that repeating clicks produced manually or automated clicks produced by robots, programs, or other artificial automated devices or means that do not represent, or based upon evidence available to Six Apart, do not appear to represent, an actual individual live web user conducting a bona-fide click-through transaction will not generate Earnings; (c) If your account is suspended for not making a required membership subscription payment; (f) If Six Apart ceases providing the Commerce Services in its sole discretion and you fail to utilize or otherwise withdraw your reported Earnings in the time period permitted by Six Apart. . . . Six Apart will charge you a fee for providing the Commerce Services, which may include, or be in addition to, any fees charged by any third party to Six Apart, and which may change from time to time, in each case at Six Apart's sole discretion.

Advertising: TypePad offers two easy advertising tools to its users with the two most expensive accounts (Pro and Premium): TipJar and TypePad TextAds. TipJar allows you to earn "tips" (donations) when users fill out a form. TextAds functions very similarly to Google Adsense. If these features are the only reason why you're thinking about an account upgrade, consider that TypePad allows you to bring in ads on your own, and that the combination of TipJar and TextAds functions similarly to having AdSense and PayPal donations button (for which you'll only pay PayPal per transaction).

Cost: There are four levels: Basic, Plus, Pro, and Premium. The monthly charge for these accounts ranges from $4.95 to $29.95.

Examples Sites: endicottstudio.typepad.com; obscurestore.typepad.com

WordPress

WordPress, like Blogger, is free and easy to use. Unlike Blogger, WordPress imposes more restrictions on its users and offers certain upgrades for a fee. WordPress also makes an open-source, blogging program that you can install on your own web server if you have one, much like Six Apart's Movable Type (see description of TypePad above). You can find information about this aspect of WordPress at http://www.wordpress.org. This downloadable software is substantially more flexible than the service offered through WordPress.com.

Functionality and Ease-of-Use:

+ Non-Blog Pages: Ability to create web pages that aren't blogs (like an "About Me" page).

- Regulation: More restrictions on controversial content and marketing than most sites.

= Code Access: No access to template codes unless you purchase the upgrade.

Features:

• Each post gets a neat URL that is search engine friendly.
• Blog posts are searchable (this is actually uncommon).
• Great categorization and tagging capability. By taking advantage of the tagging system, you can more easily become a part of the WordPress blogging community.
• Widgets allow you to bring in certain content to your page without messing with the code or template. Sidebar widgets include del.icio.us, Flickr, and Meebo.
• Easy import/export features when migrating from another site or taking your blog with you when you leave.
• They require a small amount of personal information to create an account: a username and email address.
• WordPress will register a domain name for you at a relatively low cost. This is great if you want the ease of use that WordPress provides, but do not like the yourname.wordpress.com site for credibility/distinctiveness reasons. There is one drawback to this approach: the domain name can ONLY be used for your WordPress blog.
• Storage is unlimited for posts, pages, and comments. Space for images and other files is capped at 50MB, but WordPress offers upgrades from 1GB-10GB for a price.

Terms of Service: Here are portions of WordPress's terms of service that may be relevant to journalists. Each bulleted summary is followed by the actual text in smaller print.

From WordPress's Terms of Service

• WordPress frowns on misleading promotion of your blog or its posts:

You must not describe or assign keywords to your blog in a misleading or unlawful manner, including in a manner intended to trade on the name or reputation of others, and Automattic may change or remove any description or keyword that it considers inappropriate or unlawful, or otherwise likely to cause Automattic liability.

• You may not drive traffic to or boost search engine results for third party sites:

the Content is not spam, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites, or to further unlawful acts (such as phishing) or mislead recipients as to the source of the material (such as spoofing).

• WordPress reserves the right to remove content and terminate accounts:

Without limiting any of those representations or warranties, Automattic has the right (though not the obligation) to, in Automattic’s sole discretion (i) refuse or remove any content that, in Automattic’s reasonable opinion, violates any Automattic policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Website to any individual or entity for any reason, in Automattic’s sole discretion. Automattic will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.

Termination. Automattic may terminate your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement or your WordPress.com account (if you have one), you may simply discontinue using the Website. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you have a VIP Services account, such account can only be terminated by Automattic if you materially breach this Agreement and fail to cure such breach within thirty (30) days from Automattic’s notice to you thereof.

• WordPress responds to copyright complaints in the manner prescribed by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Safe Harbor Provisions:

If you believe that material located on or linked to by WordPress.com violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify Automattic in accordance with Automattic’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”) Policy. Automattic will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. If Automattic takes action in response to an Infringement Notice, it will make a good faith attempt to contact the party that made such content available by means of the most recent email address, if any, provided by such party to Automattic.

Advertising: Users cannot add Adsense, Yahoo, Chitika and other ads services to their blogs. WordPress will block advertisements that are inserted when using an external blogging program. WordPress also prohibits:

• sponsored/paid posts including PayPerPost and ReviewMe;
• sponsored/paid links; and
• text ads.

A discrete link to your business in the sidebar or an "About" page is permitted. WordPress also allows one discreet link to Amazon per blog, so long as the primary purpose of the blog is not to drive traffic to the affiliate program.

In the site's own words:

"WordPress has a very low tolerance for blogs created purely for search engine optimization or commercial purposes, machine-generated blogs, and will continue to nuke them, so if that’s what you’re interested in WordPress.com is not for you."

Taken from http://faq.wordpress.com/2005/12/08/adsense/

Cost: WordPress will host your blog for free, but requires a paid upgrade for certain services.

Example Site: http://www.problogger.net