what would you do if :

1) A company allegedly involved in million-dollars fraud charges approaches your company to do up their corporate / product websites?

2) Host the website for a year after development completion (this is advertised on our website as a freebie for all new customers)


Ethics aside, can someone advise on the legal implications of a developer/host in this situation. Note that there will NOT be illegal content or functions on the website. That is, the website is perfectly legit corporate site.

The said company is currently fighting off those accounting fraud allegations (for many months), which are reported on newspapers and online news sites but nothing is confirmed up till now.

So, should we go ahead and build + host their site? Or should we say .. go somewhere else.

And also, what if those fraudulent accounting charges are confirmed in future, are we obligated by law to shut down the site immediately?

Thanks in advance!

Good question.

First of all there is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a court of law, so ethically there should not be a problem. Regardless of the outcome of their trial, you are only expected to act when compelled by a court of law, so I expect you would receive the proper documents eventually if that were the case.

The only thing you could be worried about is wether you will get paid or not, but that problem always exists.

I'm not a lawyer, etc.. disclaimer

I can't comment on the legal or ethical situation,
but I can simply say from a business point of view, 'stay clear of the muck spreaders' because muck sticks on the innocent as well as the guilty.
To protect you business's reputation, find a safer client and be 'too busy' to take on this 'iffy' customer.

Hi!
Well..I would make sure you have a stipulation in your terms of service..like so many have:

We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone..for any reason."

That way...you can say "no" and don't really have to tell them why.