Agreeing To The Cloud
June 28, 2007
As more and better communication and collaboration functions move to the Web (under non-negotiated, vendor-centric terms of use), what are our obligations as both tech- and ethics-savvy lawyers? I for one am not about to give up Gmail. So, what's the best practice?
- Shun Web services, you simply can't control the data?
- Use Web services only when you have specific, confidentiality and reliability guaranteeing service level agreements?
- Use Web services liberally, but acquaint yourself with the applicable terms of use and make sure clients are amenable?
I lean toward #3. You?
Microsoft Provides a Good Illustration of the Metadata Exposure Problem
June 13, 2007
Ed Botts offers up a great example of how tricky the hidden data, or metadata, issue can be in Microsoft Office. The victim this time is Microsoft. Irony aside, it's important to understand the example and be attuned to the potential problems.
Ed's recent post "What's Hidden in Your Word Documents?" also is an eye-opener on the topic for those who are not familiar with the workings of the default settings in Office 2007 (that may include some bar regulators in the US).
For a good overview for lawyers, see Mining the Value from Metadata by Dennis Kennedy, Evan Schaeffer and Tom Mighell.
