

Ask HN: How risky is starting a photo sharing service? - RealCasually

I wanted to get some opinions from the minds here at HN: how risky is it to start an anonymous photo sharing service? With abuse including pornography and copyright concerns, what risk am I putting myself in? Would a mechanism to report abuse be sufficient? Am I in legal harm by offering a service, even if it is policed?<p>Thanks!
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dangrossman
The legal risk is minimal; all of the big players in tech run such services
after all, and there are tens of thousands of hosting companies that handle
photos as well. You should spend an hour or two with an informed lawyer to
understand what you need to do to protect yourself through the CDA and DMCA
(including registering your agent with the copyright office). If you stay
within the confines of what those laws provide, you're not liable for what
your users upload. The talk with the lawyer is really advised if you want to
feel safe about starting such a venture. "Policing" what's uploaded can
actually create liability rather than relieve you of it, for example.

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RealCasually
Thanks for the advice. What type of lawyer do you recommend for this? Any
references available?

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AznHisoka
If you're planning on making this a business, the real risk is losing money,
time, and failing.

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RealCasually
That is a very contained risk I am willing to take for what amounts to a hobby
side project. I am just trying to see what I would need to do to cover my
bases and ensure I don't enter into a zone of unbounded legal risk (or at
least prevent it to the best of my ability).

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coralreef
I don't know much about liabilities, what what will you do if you see child
pornography being uploaded to your server (which will undoubtedly happen)? How
will you filter / handle that?

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RealCasually
That is certainly one aspect I am interested in HNs opinion on. Of course we
won't be able to magically solve that issue, but I wanted to see what the
current state of affairs is. As someone alludes to above, there are
implications on even trying to police it vs respond to abuse comments. Just
trying to see what the best step forward is.

