A good summary from the Get Satisfaction guys on the legal aspects of running an online community.
- Have a notice and takedown procedure in place (And remember, sometimes Takedown notices can be countered)...
- Fair Use is your friend but be sure you understand when it applies and when it doesn’t
- Have an official policy in place for how you deal with obscene material (if it’s illegally obscene, like kiddy porn, you are actually required to notify law enforcement if it’s been posted to your site!)
- Minimize logging of customer activity if you want to completely avoid ever being forced into turning over customer records (there are actually a lot of safe-guards that protect you here, but the safest is to not log info at all. Not realistic for all sites, but good to be aware of)
- Establish a record-retention and deletion policy and stick to it
