BootsnAll Travel Community

i think that should be included with statements such as the one you made above...that would make me feel better certainly

Yeah but on the other hand I did not include any article that I did find that talk about malaria rates increasing in India.

So the responsibility of research does not lie with me but you the consumer. So if I include stats such as this in my statements you would beleive..even if the source was not clear or I'm still not a authority on the subject just have experience in the said country.

But with each article you read you really have to know what is being said..the said articles I found from India were not about all of India but of one small place..but you have to then know that Assam is way away from Mumbai/Kerala...the other end of India.

Anyway....

Eppy makes a very good point. At the same time, as someone trained as a lawyer, i can tell you do need to watch your back, legally speaking, when it comes to hosting a forum offering medical advice (as well as morally, but the legal stuff is far more financially relevant). I'm about as reluctant to offer legal advice as medical advice here, so this isn't to be construed as such.

You presently have no legal disclaimer at the top of the Health branch. You should definitely fix that - it will cost you a few minutes of labor. Your servers are in Portland, if I'm not mistaken. As such, they are easily within the jurisdiction of Oregon courts. Anywhere in the US, you are well-advised to err on the side of caution when it comes to limiting your liability.

Eppy, I'm not particularly well-versed on Civ Pro with regards to Internet stuff - what do you know about personal jurisdiction with regards to websites?

Okay, gang - next time you decide to have a big debate about the boards, can you do it when I'm not across an ocean and not checking in as much as I usually do? Much obliged.



I'm not a lawyer, and the fact that I used to work for one doesn't count. So I'm going to check with Sean when he gets back in the office from his trip for his thoughts on this. I'm of two minds about it - while I think that posting a brief (and I do mean brief) disclaimer on the health forum isn't a terrible idea, I also don't want to assume that everyone who lays eyes on the boards is such an imbecile that we have to post a disclaimer about every single topic. I mean, where does it end? Will we have to put a disclaimer saying (and I'm pushing the envelope here to make a point), "We're not travel experts, because we're not travel agents." That seems a little much.

At any rate, your points have been heard, so please know that I'll bring it up with Sean (who may or may not want to check with our lawyers about it). If you've got any other points you want to make on this topic that aren't already posted here, please PM or email me directly.

Grazie mille from sunny Milan.
Jessica

Isn't it already obvious to readers that ANYTHING offered on an internet chat board is not authoritative?

I think this is an interesting discussion, but Eppy I really don't see what the issue is. If people decide to trust a chat board over talking to a doctor, that's their problem. It's not something that BnA can control, even if it tries.

It's common sense that info gleaned from a chat boards is not authoritative. On medical advice, legal advice, whether to stay in school or not, whether a region of the world is safe to travel in, dating, job hunts, etc etc etc etc.

The only thing I see a need for is a disclaimer as Felix suggests in the medical section.

Hey Folks,

Thanks for the discussion. Interesting for sure. We've had these boards for 9 years or so now, and not sure if this came up exactly before.

1) Terms of service for this board say in so many words, "we don't/can't confirm any of the info on these boards".

2) Jessie added a little disclaimer here
http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/656098755

Hope this works for y'all. Great to hear so many perspectives on this one. 6 billion+ people on this planet, and 6+ billion different realities.