LUWS History

#11

In addition a sperate page for "ward news and media" would be nice too. Think of the ward posting pictures of the latest activity or a video of the last young adults talent night.

jeffboyd · #12

Thanks everyone for your input. I wasn't aware of the security issues with locally-hosted websites. I find all this very interesting. Is there anyone who works at the church who might know when the official LUWS came out of beta testing? Or even how long beta testing was done?

thedqs wrote:The major problem with locally run ward websites was that pictures of events were posted with names and it was affliated with the church and the church didn't have a license to use pictures of the members and publish them. So it was just a lawsuit waiting to happen.

thedqs wrote:In addition a sperate page for "ward news and media" would be nice too. Think of the ward posting pictures of the latest activity or a video of the last young adults talent night.

I thought posting pictures without permission was one of the original problems. Would the ward need to get written permission of each individual in a group shot in order to post it? If so, I can't imagine that being a popular feature. I'm not familiar with the legal issues involved.

-Jeff

russellhltn · #13

boydjeff wrote:I thought posting pictures without permission was one of the original problems. Would the ward need to get written permission of each individual in a group shot in order to post it? If so, I can't imagine that being a popular feature. I'm not familiar with the legal issues involved.

I there's probably a legal a difference between "publishing it to the world" which is what the old websites did and "publishing it to the stake" behind a password protected login. It's like the difference between publishing it in a newspaper and tacking it on a bulletin board in a meeting house.

#14

boydjeff wrote:I thought posting pictures without permission was one of the original problems. Would the ward need to get written permission of each individual in a group shot in order to post it? If so, I can't imagine that being a popular feature. I'm not familiar with the legal issues involved.

-Jeff

I know that currently you can post pictures of yourself onto the site in the ward directory and if it was public access as Russell said you'd need to get permission of each person in writing and store it at CHQ. Since it is password protected and even stake limited I think it skirts that legal issue.

I'll just trust those lawyers at CHQ to get it right.

jeffboyd · #15

For anyone interested, the letter calling for the closure of locally-hosted websites from the presiding bishopric came on the Ides of March, 2001. It includes the following explanation: "As the church grows, it is important that information presented to the world be accurate and dignified and that it represent a single, unified Church voice. In addition, it is imperative that the rights of third parties be protected and respected through strict compliance with applicable laws."