Advertisements with Disclaimers

I found two typical examples of disclaimers in web advertising. The first one is the website ads of Apple Store http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html while the other is from Occupational Therapy (http://www.otaus.com.au/disclaimers/list/asset_id/1/cid/1/parent/0/t/disclaimers). Both disclaimers provided on websites are legally effective.

As I discovered that the primary purpose of a website disclaimer is to limit the liabilities that a website owner or publisher may suffer arising out of the website, as well as to qualify other information on the site. Those liabilities that publishers must contend with include defamation, copyright infringement and breach of privacy. I learned that there are two standards a business must comply with to eliminate inherent risks in using disclaimers. Firstly, businesses must adequately draw the consumer’s attention to the qualifying statement. Secondly, the disclaimer must be effective in remedying the main statement.

In terms of the first rule, disclaimers on both web advertising I mentioned are accessed via a link at the bottom of every page in relatively small print. In this way, there is no guarantee that consumers will see them. According to the ACCC Advertising and Selling Guide, businesses should make more efforts to make disclaimers conspicuous. For instance, to place disclaimers on a compulsory page, leaving consumers no choice but to view them at some stage while in the site. Another more appropriate way is to use dialogue box that contains claimers opens on users’ screen when they access the website before they make a purchase. For the effectiveness of a disclaimer, Apple Store and Occupational Therapy both made qualified statements. The reasons are that disclaimers in those two websites are accurate, clear and in precise terms. In addition, claimers do not contradict any advertising claims. Furthermore, both advertising adequately disclose material terms for goods and services. 

  Therefore, claimers in advertising websites from Apple Store and Occupational Therapy are legally effective. However, the inherent risks would be minimized if they make their claimers more compelling.