Hello,

According to The Attorney General, for the state of PA, § 517.2. a Home Improvement Contractor has to have his License number on “Advertisement.” A statement promoting home improvement services in a newspaper, periodical, pamphlet, circular, billboard, sign, letterhead, business card or other printed materials or in announcements to the public on radio, television or the Internet.

Since this is a state requirement and the World Wide Web is international, does the HIC License number need to be on a contractors web site to comply with this statue?

Thanks.

I can't think of any reason that they couldn't require the license number on all of the displays as written. Why is it an issue? Homework? I live in PA. If I looked at your website, why shouldn't I see your license number and be able to research to determine the status of your license and any other information that would be referenced with your license number?

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Originally Posted by smearcase

I can't think of any reason that they couldn't require the license number on all of the displays as written. Why is it an issue? Homework? I live in PA. If I looked at your website, why shouldn't I see your license number and be able to research to determine the status of your license and any other information that would be referenced with your license number?

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I am just seeking the law and facts. Not logic.

Thanks!

The answer is yes if you accurately quoted the AG of the State of PA.

I'm not even sure why you would ask the question. The law is VERY clear. Since the Internet is mentioned, that would cover WEB sites. The International nature of the Net has nothing to do with anything. The law includes any posting on the Internet in its definition of advertisement. For example, if you were to put your business name and contact info in your signature line on this site, you would have to include your license or be in violation of that law.

However, smearcase's question is valid. We try to do more that just answer questions here. We try to help with problems. If we know why you ask the question we can provide more complete help.

Law is supposed to be based on reason and logic, something always in flux as a society changes. If it were simply 'the law' in some pure sense, we wouldn't have lawyers, courts, and precedents.
Even before the internet, many paper publications containing advertising were well known enough to be international, or had international editions, or were sent to other countries by subscription. Would you expect a law to cover all these scenarios too? No, we'd be drowning in laws.
There's a fallacy of logic in your statement 'Since this is a state requirement and the World Wide Web is international... ' You are presuming that a state requirement means that any action outside of the state voids the state requirement - in this case, the internet. If you were to advertise in the Tierra del Fuego Times, I see no jurisdiction by the state of PA, USA. But the internet includes PA. Not to mention the fact that most people you are seen by on the net are local.

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Originally Posted by joypulv

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There's a fallacy of logic in your statement 'Since this is a state requirement and the World Wide Web is international...' You are presuming that a state requirement means that any action outside of the state voids the state requirement - in this case, the internet. If you were to advertise in the Tierra del Fuego Times, I see no jurisdiction by the state of PA, USA. But the internet includes PA. Not to mention the fact that most people you are seen by on the net are local.

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I think what you are getting at is this:

A Pennsylvania law, which provides that contractors' advertisements must contain their license number, means any advertisements published in Pennsylvania. The fact that such a publication may also, by accident, be read in Tierra del Fuego is an incidental benefit, but is of no legal consequence.

If the contractor were to advertize as a contractor seeking to do business in Pennsylvania, in the Tierra del Fuego Times, published and distributed exclusively in Argentina, might be a technical violation of the Pennsylvania statute, however it would be foolish to so advertize. If, however, the TdF Times were widely read in Pennsylvania, it would be a serious violation of the law and it would be no defense that the publication was only published abroad.

AK lawyer, thanks. Your dry legal wit has me ROFLMAO if I have that acronym right.
I dropped out of my logic class at Berkeley in 1966. Campus was shut down half the time anyway.