Web-Tones

Law Firm: The Three Evils

OK, I shamelessly borrow great "stuff" wherever I find it, and here again I am borrowing from my good friend Chris Saah, CIO and all-around tech visionary (often known to "channel Steve Jobs").

There may be more than "three evils" with respect to law firm technologies (high probability) but I want to focus only on three today (you can call these "Chris' three" although he used them in reference to an entirely different industry).

1. Paper. Paper is surely evil. Expensive to manage and store. More and more firms need to figure out how to get by with as little as possible, recognizing that it may never go away entirely is no excuse for killing more trees and continuing to run a less efficient practice.
2. Email. People are beginning to wake up to just how evil email can be. Firms lagged in their implementation and now are addicted to this stuff. But in many circumstances there are better ways to communicate--start to wean yourself off of this addiction--think collaborative communications platforms.
3. PCs. Yes you heard that right, the personal computer is evil. How can that possibly be? Well, because you can't get to it (most can't) in an "anywhere/anytime" basis and it doesn't get backed up as often as it should, and finally, it is subject to all kinds of man-made and natural disasters (think fires and Katrina). Virtual PCs are already available at a theater near you.

Yes, as Yogi Berra once said, "the future ain't what it use to be." Deal with it. Can I get a witness?

DMCA Shifting Winds

Link: Science Fiction Writers of America abuses the DMCA - Boing Boing. As this post illustrates, you can shoot yourself in the head by the indiscriminate use of DMCA "takedown notices." Not only can it be bad PR, that is when the purported use clearly falls under the "Fair Use" doctrine and the bogus "takedown" simply gives more "legs" to "bad press," BUT it can expose the sender to potential legal liability as in this case. The courts are starting to take notice and someone is "fixin" to get whacked!

Of course, there are legitimate uses for the DMCA "takedown" provision, and to give them "teeth" the courts are likely to respond by sanctioning abuses. Stay tuned, things are starting to move quite fast here...