IT attorney firm Buys Inc has issued a checklist to help ITWeb readers get their Web sites legally compliant.
This follows an article published on ITWeb on Monday, in which the results of the recent 2004 South African Web site Compliance Survey, conducted by Legalsentry and Buys Inc Attorneys, indicated that most South African Web sites did not comply with the necessary laws.
Thirty-one percent of the survey respondents said they were unsure about Web site compliance requirements and the steps needed to ensure full compliance.
In response to request for a simple guide to making sites legally compliant, Reinhardt Buys of Buys Inc created this Web site compliance guide and checklist.
'Reckless` companies
Meanwhile, Advocate Willem Heath, former judge and chairman of the Heath Investigative Commission, has criticised companies for their "gross negligence" with regard to the law, saying: "I find it difficult to believe that South African companies can be so reckless in their responsibility to comply with legislation.
"Companies are, for example, contravening the ECT Act, which amounts to criminal offences in many instances. Are companies out there therefore poorly informed or do they have no regard for the law? An interesting point is that this specific legislation is there to protect the company, but this protection is not being utilised.
"One of these disappointments is the percentage of Web sites with no legal notices at all. In 2002 the percentage of a possible 607 sites was 47.3%. Presently, 81% of a possible 1 550 Web sites do not have legal notices at all.
"The second point I would like to tackle is the question of percentage of Web site operators who claim they cannot afford the legal fees associated with legal compliance. In 2002, 66.3% of companies stated they were unable to afford legal fees associated with legal compliance, compared to the present figure of 85.8%. Companies have funds for marketing budgets and legal advice and consulting. Therefore, indicating the costs of legal fees as an excuse to remain non-compliant is totally preposterous," Heath says.
"In essence, Acts such as ECT and FICA are there to protect businesses and ultimately shareholders. I believe that we should all work together to achieve legal compliance."
Related story:
SA sites don`t comply with ECT Act
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