[WEB4LIB] Re: Commercial web-based service looking for

[Jim Barrentine]

At 10:53 AM 08/25/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>NO FRIGGIN WAY!  The waiver for people who answer questions states that 
>the person answering the question will INDEMNIFY AskAnything for any 
>problems or lawsuits that result from the work they do.  Not only NO, but 
>HELL NO!  (Since when does an employer ask you to indemnify THEM?)
>
>ROFLMAO!
>
>Norman Howden, PhD
>Assistant Dean, Educational Resources
>214-860-2176

First, I have no connection to Ask Anything and had never heard of them 
until the original post.  However, the indemnification clause in their 
contract is fairly standard (and a lot less onerous than some I have 
seen).  The key here is that the experts who answer questions are NOT Ask 
Anything employees - they are independent contractors.

Consider the following scenario:  You ask Ask Anything a question on 
adjusting the brakes on your car.  The answer you get from an Ask Anything 
expert is wrong, but you don't know that.  You take the advice, adjust your 
brakes according to the information you got, and your wife and kids are 
killed in an accident because of it.  You're going to sue everybody in 
sight, including Ask Anything.  The Ask Anything indemnification clause 
says that the expert agrees that, in such and event, it is he the expert 
who is liable and not Ask Anywhere.  Seems reasonable to me.

Ask your employer for a copy of the indemnification language they use when 
hiring a contractor.  I'll bet it's a lot tougher than the Ask Anywhere 
language.


James K. Barrentine
Information Partners, Inc.
Technology Solutions for Libraries
2697 Euclid Hts. Blvd.  Suite 3
Cleveland, OH  44106-2828
216-371-2415 (voice)
216-932-4980 (fax)
mailto:jkb at ix.netcom.com