October 31, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Nonprofits’ Guide to Internet Communications Law
by Bruce R. Hopkins
The lack of law or legal precedent governing Internet communications can create legal entanglements for nonprofit organizations that use e-mail and Web sites for fund raising, marketing, education, or other purposes.
Bruce Hopkins, a lawyer in Kansas City, Mo., who specializes in tax-exempt organizations, says that, since there are few existing laws on which to base a practice, lawyers must extrapolate from existing law, with its underlying rationale and principles, and then try to apply it to the Internet setting. Discussing the question of whether nonprofit organizations’ Web sites should be allowed to contain links to the Web sites of corporate sponsors, for example, he looks to laws that apply to corporate sponsorships.
Mr. Hopkins examines a variety of Internet issues, explaining the legal basics of topics such as online fund raising, lobbying, political-campaign activities, and the administration of charitable-giving programs.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset, N.J. 08875; (800) 225-5945; fax (800) 597-3299; http://www.wiley.com; 332 pages; $45; I.S.B.N. 0-471-22278-X.
