This blog courtesy of The Volokh Conspiracy, entitled pithily “Don’t Sell Ads on Your Blog”. This is particularly apropos since Ashley Ladd was only musing on this subject mere days ago. Here’s the good oil from a bona fide professor of law, people:

…many homeowner’s insurance policies cover you for libel, invasion of privacy, and the like, including for the costs of defending the lawsuits. But they generally expressly exempt liability [my emphasis] that’s based on your “business pursuits,” which may include even those pursuits on which you make a pittance.

It appears this applies to blogs/sites that host ads and those that also just have a tipjar. According to the insurance companies, even a few pennies constitute “business” and thus whatever you pay in home insurance is disappearing into a giant hole, without the requisite protection should/when the need arise/s. This aspect of your insurance (and please check your policy carefully to be sure) is particularly pernicious if you’re blogging about anything controversial. (And, these days, who’s to say what’s controversial and what isn’t?)

The obvious next question regards “sponsored links”, like the type that appear next to many free web applications. But, from what I gather, if you aren’t making any money from it, then you’re okay. I’ve posted a comment to the Prof (Eugene Volokh) with this very question and will report back when/if I get an answer.

ASIDE: Y’know, until I checked on the Prof himself, I thought the site name (”Volokh Conspiracy”) was some kind of secret reference to a science-fiction passion of some sort. (Maybe I was thinking of Vogon? And every s-f alien name that ends in “kh”!) In any case, Professor Eugene Volokh is A Real Person, and that’s his real name. In fact, he even looks pretty normal, even though he teaches within that Babylon city of the USA, that pit of vice, that nest of vipers … I am, of course, referring to Los Angeles. (I must be getting old because professors are starting to look younger and younger nowadays.)

POSTSCRIPT: No, I don’t really think that of Los Angeles. In fact, it kinda reminds me of a grown-up Brisbane, Australia, which is where I spent many a halfway happy year. Didn’t appreciate being profiled at LAX by a roving Immigration officer, but that’s another story.

POSTSCRIPT^2: Considering I’m Malaysian by birth, it would be remiss of me not to mention the Malaysian General Election that was held over the weekend. Although the ruling party, Barisan Nasional, retained a parliamentary majority, that majority was slashed to a 40-year minimum. Malaysians are (rightly) sick of the continuing corruption, apathy and lack of initiative under the current administration, led by Abdullah Badawi. However, a brickbat also to Opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who was quoted in the Singapore newspaper, “The Sunday Times”, as saying:

Why am I here in Singapore? Because I will not get fair treatment by the Malaysian press.

That would, honestly, be like a US presidential candidate praising the freedom of press in Saudi Arabia. I wish Anwar would stop sucking up to foreigners (he’s been doing it since Al Gore was VP) and get on with actually trying to improve Malaysia. Anwar’s due to move back into politics in mid-April, all coy remarks to the contrary. I haven’t forgotten previous comments he made while Deputy PM during Mahathir’s reign, so I’ll certainly be watching what he does in the future.

POSTSCRIPT^3: Prof answered everyone else’s questions, but not mine! Once more, teh romance author getz dissed! All I can say is, read your insurance contract.