Law Office Technology
Random Notes Redux by Margaret M. Newtoll
WII/\T "OULI) YOl I'/\\, FOR FRU: E\IAIL?
HoTMaiL, "The World's Only Web-based Free Email", is betting that you will gladly accept their offer for free email by allowing advenisements to be attached to your message. lt's not the advertisement I mind so much as trying to find a free Internet connection! View their
web page at http://www.hotmail.com. HAIL! H,\IL! TilE GJ\NC'S ALL HERE!
Most, if not all, of the staid publishers of legal tomes are on the Net these days. (Hmmmm. Seems like the "If you can't beat
'em, join 'em!" approach.) Take a look at West Publishing (http://www.westpub.com). Martindale-Hubbell (at both http://www.martindale.com and http://www.martindalehubbell.com). and Shepard's (http://www.shepards.com). Also on the Web, Arkansas' own LOIS (http://www.pita.com). Lexis-Nexis (http://www.lexis-nexis.com). Defense Research InstilUte (hup://ww.dri.org), For Counsel, the gift
catalog for lawyers (http://www.forcounsel.com). and the anti路altorney Nolo Press
(http://www.nolo.com). Joining in the fray are literally hundreds of new outfits. each clamoring to be your one-stop'net-connection for legal info, etc. Be sure to
(http://www.eff.org). EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (http://epic.org), CDT, The Center for Democracy and Technology (http://www.cdLorg), VTW, Voters
cific search engines like LawCrawler
Telecommunications Watch
Always one to keep up the with the anti-technology counter-culture, this reporter investigaled a tome entitled Millutes of the Lead Pencil Club:
(http://www.vtw.org), and Ihe old stand-by, ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union (http://www.aclu.org). Be sure to keep your eye out for Ihe Blue Ribbon "seal of approval", explained at http://www.eff.orglblueribbon.html#graphics. Go FETCtt! Don't have time to web-surf, you say? With some new software products, called "omine web access technology." these gizmos will retrieve the customized info you seek and deliver it to your
desktop. Two of the hottest products are Milklruck and PointCasL Milktruck will bring you web sites that you can browse at your leisure, instead of being at the mercy of your modem speed. Read all about it at either http://www.milktruck.com or hup:llwww.travsofLcom. Don't care to wait ;tillthe 6:00 news for sports scores and info? Want only financial news? To get up-to-the-minute news-that-youchoose. check out PointCast at http://www.paintcaSI.com. TAKING TilE Pll;~GE
When you are ready to declare your presence
visit The Legal Pad (http:tnegal-pad.com), Court TV Law Center (http://www.cOurtlv.com). The
on the Web, be sure to do it right. Get your own
Seamless WEBsite, which takes its name from Judge Learned Hand's remark that "the law is a
domain name from InterNIC (http://www.internic.net), the entity that doles out names for cash.
seamless web" (http://seamless.com). HyperLaw. Ine. (http://www.hyperlaw.com). The Law Source (http://thelawsource.com), The 'Lectric Law Library (http://www.lectlaw.com). LawSight (http://www.LawSighLcom), Counsel Connect Web (http://www.counsel.com). LEGAL dot NET, the Legal Network for Everyone (http://www.legal.net). and Hieros Gamos, from the Greek meaning "harmonization of seeming
opposites, e.g. sun and moon, earth and sky, mercury and sulfur and, in the case of the Internet, electronic and wriuen infomlation"
But be aware of the group's policy on trademark domain names in case someone stole your first choice, discussed at hup:/Iwww.patents.comlnsi.sht. Some thoughts on web page content: avoid using too-large or numerous graphics; be careful
about giving 100 much info or stale info; check your links periodically to avoid error messages and dead links; be sure to include direct contact info; and, remember thai repeat surfers will come back only if you conlinue to updale your site. Bur I STILI. IlA\'E'J'T FOU'l1) 'Ht\T 1'~1 tOOKING
(http://www.hg.org).
FOR (11m. APOLOGtl:~ TO
WATCHDOG WATCH
Net freedom of speech. Check out EFF, The
Searching the Net is an inexact science, and becomes more so with its exponential growth. Complicaling the lask is the disparate nature of search engine methodology. Some solutions: CINet's Search.Com. acompilation of search
Electronic Frontier Foundation
engines (http://www.search.com); and legal-spe-
Although the CDA (Communications Decency Act) was quashed, several groups don't intend to let their guard down when it comes to
U2)
(hnp://www.lawcrawler.coml) and FindLaw (http://www.findlaw.coml). ANTI-TECH TALK
Pulling the Plug all the Electronic Rel'olwia", edited by Bill Henderson (Pushcan Press, 1996). The Club's manifeslo states, in pan, ';We will avoid fax and hang up on voice mail. We will receive no E-mail and send none. If our computers develop a virus, we will seek no cure." I guess I'll just wait until the book comes out on
CD-Rom. Be sure to check out the HOIl-lille version of Popillar Lllddite Magazine" at
http://members.gnn.com/RadioGuylluddite.htm. What more can I say? E~IAIL SIGNATURES, PART A According to a recent posting I saw, netiquette dictates that email signatures should be ;'4
lines or less." Such slringent standards don't allow for much creativity, such as (and I am not
making this up) a one-half page graphic representation of a dolphin leaping out of the water, or statements summing up the sender's philosophy. One of my favorites comes from a fellow who
posts to the Net-lawyers listserv. David 1. Loundy's signature includes the quote by Douglas Adams,"1 love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they Oy by", and his professed avocation, "Researching car-jackings, drive by shootings and other over-used metaphors on the Information SuperHighway."
Drop David a nOle at David@lnierAccess.com. Other good quotes to use in your signature: "I think there is a world market for maybe five
computers", by Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, in 1943; and "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home", by Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of
Digital Equipment Corp., in 1977. E:\IAIL SIG'J\TURF.s, PART
2
Washington State legislators have passed a "digital signature" bill which will govern the use of such signatures in electronic transactions. The
bill becomes effective on January I, 1998. According to a news release from Washington
Secretary of State Ralph Munro, the Washington Electronic Authentication Act, S.B. 6423 "pro-