Both on the St. Martin board and on the BVI board, I have seen quite a few posts recently which give me some concern as possibly giving rise to legal problems for the poster. Some of you may be aware that I am a lawyer, but consider this note as a friendly reminder from your moderator, and not as legal advice... Just because it is so easy to post things on the internet, people believe erroneously, that there are no legal consequences which can arise. As is listed in our terms of use, particularly numbers 13 and 14, posting of illegal matter on TTOL is prohibited.

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13. The posting of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder is prohibited.


With regard to copyrighted material, please do NOT post the full text of any article, etc, without the permission of the original author. Posting of links or very small quotes from articles are probably permissable uses, but wholesale quoting of any article, even with attribution, is probably a violation of copyright laws. Similarly, if you copy someone else’s text onto your personal website, etc., you should be aware that there are potential copyright implications.

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14. By using these forums, you agree that you will not post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy or otherwise in violation of any law.


We understand that, on occasion, emotions and tensions can run high, and it is very easy to post a note that you might regret afterwards. However, just because you regret your post afterwards, or possibly even apologize and admit you were wrong, that does not make everything “all better”. If you accuse someone of a crime or post some other defamatory material, you could be sued for libel, even if you later change your mind and admit that your original post was wrong.

and, finally...
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The Traveltalkonline Forums may be moderated but Traveltalkonline accepts no liability for legal consequences that arise from the use of these Forums (e.g, copyright violations, libel, slander, or other such crimes). Traveltalkonline is not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message and are not responsible for the contents of any message. Traveltalkonline does retain the right to remove any and all messages posted, for whatever reason. Under no circumstances are Traveltalkonline or it's agents to be held liable for any wrong doings that occur from the usage of these Forums. People that post messages to these Forums are not to libel/slander nor in any other way depict a company, entity, individual or service in a false light. Should they do so, the legal consequences are theirs alone and they agree to hold harmless Traveltalkonline, the moderators and agents with respect to any claim based on the transmission of your message(s).



Carol

Carol Hill