United States District Court, For the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division United States of America vs. National Association of Realtors Civil Action No.: 05 C 5140 Judgment Dated 11-18-2008 From NAR's: Frequently Asked Questions on the VOW Policy. NAR-VOW-FAQ.pdf Q 9.1 What's the difference between a VOW and an IDX site? An IDX site is considered advertising — and listing brokers' consent is required before another broker may advertise his or her listing. A VOW (Virtural Office Website) is considered on-line brokerage. Listing brokers' consent is not required to display on a VOW any listing otherwise available to MLS participants and subscribers for Internet display. Sellers retain the ability to withhold their properties from Internet display or to withhold the display of their property's address from Internet display. A website that offers online MLS listing searching capability that does not comply with the detailed requirements of the VOW policy is, by definition, and IDX site. Q 9.2 Does the settlement agreement affect the IDX policy? No. Everyone's Real Estate Marketplace opinion (this is not legal advise): Follow the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) policy. A listing broker's consent is required before you may advertise any other broker's listings. When you provide a public search on your website you are advertising other broker's listings.   NAR states in IDX - Virtural Kit (revised 5/18/05). NAR-IDX-FAQ.pdf POLICY STATEMENT Unless state law requires prior written consent from listing brokers, listing brokers' consent for IDX display may be presumed unless a listing broker refuses to permit display (either on a blanket or on a listing-by-listing basis). Questions and Answers Q.Must the listing firm be identified when I display other Participants' listings on my website? A. This is a matter of local determination. Q. Why should we let our listings be displayed on our competitors' website? A. Letting other Participants display listings on the Internet is a business decision each Participant must make, taking into account their duty to promote the best interests of their clients: to cooperate with other REALTORS®; and the opportunity to use the Internet to better serve their clients and customers. TERMS OF USE When you log-in to "Everyone's Real Estate Marketplace", Terms of use will include: "Listing broker gives their consent to advertise the listing information."