SAAS AND THE LEGAL CLOUD MADE SIMPLE
There have recently been a number of high profile cases on liability for the sending of inappropriate tweets in the UK and the USA.
As tweeting becomes more and more the norm for many businesses it is important to consider the legal consequences of staff sending inappropriate tweets. Before allowing, permitting or encouraging staff to start tweeting on your behalf or with your brand you should consider creating a tweeting policy.
Continue readingWhen negotiating a SaaS agreement you will come across the term intellectual property, IPR or intellectual property rights. It is important to protect your IPRs in the SaaS agreement to prevent any transfer of ownership in your IPRs and to limit the use of your IPRs by a SaaS customer.
Continue readingThe European Commission has recently released a paper on cloud computing stating that it will develop model terms for SaaS agreements which should be available for use in service level agreements (SLAs) by the end of 2013.
Continue readingIf you are a SaaS supplier who often deals with customers located outside of the UK, you will have experienced customers insisting on their local law applying to your SaaS agreement. Many SaaS suppliers agree to this by simply removing “English law” from the SaaS agreement and replacing it with, for example, “German law” unaware of the consequences this will have upon their SaaS terms and conditions.
Continue readingIf you are operating a website and require users to register in order to use your website or you are simply using Google analytics on your website then you are collecting and processing personal data. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, if you collect, store or process personal data you must provide specific information to the persons whose personal data you are using. This information is usually provided to users in a privacy policy which should be published on your website.
Continue readingSaaS suppliers must have adequate data protection policies, procedures and checks in place when employees or third parties are handling SaaS customer data or face the risk of being heavily fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).
Continue readingIncreasingly SaaS customers are asking for detailed exit provisions to be included in the terms of SaaS agreements. Such requests usually cover the return of data, the provision of transition assistance and non-solicitation clauses. If such terms are not already included in your SaaS agreement it is advisable to add these in order to protect your interests upon termination of the customer relationship.
Continue readingWebsite operators who sell products or services to consumers online must comply with the provisions of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. These require you to provide consumers with specific information in a durable medium before the products or services are delivered.
Continue readingBelow is a summary of the mandatory and optional insurance options that SaaS suppliers should consider when selling SaaS products and services via a UK based company. Employers Liability Insurance This insurance is mandatory. It covers claims relating to injuries to your employees. All businesses in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) who have employees working in Great Britain must have this insurance in place. Failure to do so could result in a fine of 2,500 GBP per day. The insurance must be: an approved policy; with an authorised insurer;
Continue readingThe use of open source software (OSS) by SaaS suppliers is becoming increasingly common. If you use, or plan to use OSS as part of your SaaS software, it is essential that you check the specific terms of any OSS licence, as you will need to comply with these terms and ensure that they are incorporated or reflected in your SaaS agreement. What is Open Source Software? OSS is software which is provided subject to a licence, which makes the source code available to everyone. Anyone is permitted to see
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