Insights

Internet & eCommerce

Internet and eCommerce insights on contracts, privacy, digital compliance, and platform operations.

Auto-Renewal and Subscription Compliance: The Rules That Govern Recurring Charges Before Customers Click Subscribe

If your business charges customers on a recurring basis, federal and state regulators treat the sign-up flow, the renewal process, and the cancellation mechanism as compliance events. Every subscription enrollment that doesn't meet disclosure and consent requirements is a potential enforcement action.

CAN-SPAM Compliance for Online Businesses: What the Law Requires for Every Marketing Email You Send

Every commercial email sent in the United States is governed by the CAN-SPAM Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 7701-7713), regardless of whether the recipient opted in, whether the email was sent by the business or by a third party on the business's behalf, and whether the recipient is a consumer or a business contact.

FTC Endorsement Guides and Influencer Disclosure: What Online Businesses Must Disclose About Paid Relationships

If someone has a relationship with a brand and publicly recommends that brand's product, the relationship must be disclosed to the audience. That's the core principle of the FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), and it applies to every business that pays for endorsements, sponsors content, provides free products for review, or engages influencers, affiliates, or brand ambassadors in any capacity.

SaaS Agreements: What Belongs in the Subscription Contract Your Customers Click Through

A SaaS agreement governs access to software delivered over the Internet rather than installed on the customer's hardware. Unlike a traditional software license (where the customer receives a copy of the code and runs it locally), a SaaS relationship means the provider controls the infrastructure, the customer's data lives on the provider's servers, and the service can be modified, interrupted, or terminated by the provider at any time unless the contract provides otherwise.

Section 230 and Content Moderation: What Protects Your Platform When Users Post and When Protection Ends

If your online business allows users to post content, whether that's product reviews, comments, forum discussions, marketplace listings, or social media posts, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (47 U.S.C. § 230) is the statute that determines whether you're liable for what they say.

Website Terms of Service: How to Draft Terms That Bind Your Users and What Happens When They Don't

A website's terms of service are a contract between the business and every person who uses the site. If the terms are enforceable, they govern the relationship: where disputes are resolved, what the business's liability is, whether claims go to arbitration or court, what intellectual property rights attach to user content, and what happens when the relationship ends.