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New requirements for business website owners

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From 1 January 2007, if your website does not contain the company’s full name – including any trading names, its place of registration and registration number and registered office address, you are committing an offence.

Example

ABC products is a trading name of XYZ Ltd, a company registered in England under registration number xxxxx; registered office address is RO Address.

This information does not need to be on each page of your website but it would be sensible to include it at least on a ‘contact us’ or ‘legal information’ page.

This information does however need to be on ALL business related electronic communications and it would be advisable for it to be part of a standard signature on your emails. Please note that a PO Box address or email contact facility is unlikely to be sufficient for these purposes.

For an in-depth guide to the new rules, read our E-Commerce Legal Guide for Small Businesses.

Please note that this area of the law is a complex subject and you should not take or refrain from taking any step without full legal advice on your particular circumstances. The content of this article is of a general nature and no liability is accepted in connection with it or if any reliance is placed on it.

Posted January 22, 2007