You’ve likely received a “Message Recall” e-mail at some point. They have a Subject line that looks like this: Reid Trautz would like to recall the message “You won’t believe what Dan Pinnington said.” The text within the quote marks is the Subject line of the original message – the one the sender wants recalled.

Many e-mail systems, including the widely used Microsoft/Outlook Exchange Server and IBM Lotus Notes/Domino Server, offer a Message Recall feature. This feature is supposed to delete unread copies of the recalled message from the recipients’ inboxes so they never see it.

When does one make . . . [more]

Internet Law News today reports that a judge who went online to check some facts about a case before him did not invalidate his decision: U.S. v. Bari, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 09-1074.

The court held that judges may note facts “not subject to reasonable dispute” that can be learned from accurate sources. The judge may “confirm his [or her] intuition”.

Does this sound right to you? How would you apply those two criteria (re dispute and re accurate sources)?

OTOH how do you prevent a judge from doing this? Is it realistic or . . . [more]

For the first time since its been tracking research, Ipsos Reid reports that the weekly Internet usage of online Canadians is more than the number of hours they spend watching television. Online Canadians are spending more than 18 hours a week online, compared to 16.9 hours watching TV. Other interesting findings:

• Males are spending significantly more time online than females (20 hours compared to 16).
• There is a minimal gap between age groups. For example, 18-34 year olds are spending 20 hours a week online, compared to 18 hours for those over the age of 35.

The Supreme Court of the United States has launched a new website. According to their What’s New page:

Welcome to the Supreme Court’s new Website, which not only has a new look, but also incorporates new features, including:

• recent Court decisions accessible from the homepage
• docket files dating back to 2000
• an interactive Court calendar
• a new case citation finder
• enhanced search and navigation capabilities

Additonal features and enhancements will be added over time, so watch this space for announcements.

The previous design had been criticized for being out of date with regard to look and content, and was . . . [more]

As of noon today Google will no longer censor the results of searches with Google Search, Google News, and Google Images on Google.cn. According to the Official Google Blog:

Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong.

In introducing this move, Google gave prominence to the attacks on its site within China, and only secondarily referred to “attempts to . . . limit free speech.” As Google points out in this announcement, . . . [more]

Pharmaceutical companies are heavily regulated in the manner in which they can advertise to consumers. And for good reason – drugs are highly effective in addressing medical conditions, but also potentially dangerous when used improperly or interacting with other medications.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently reviewing submissions from the pharmaceutical industry about the use of social media, and is expected to release new rules by the end of the year.

The role of social media in educating the public is something that should not be underestimated. Eric Ruth of the Delaware Online said,

On both sides,

Some substantive law on issues involving criminal law and web access using the current means of access: a computer. 

R. v. Morelli, 2010 SCC 8

Fish J ( McLachlin C.J. and Binnie, Abella JJ concurring) 

[1] This case concerns the right of everyone in Canada, including the appellant, to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. And it relates, more particularly, to the search and seizure of personal computers.

[2] It is difficult to imagine a search more intrusive, extensive, or invasive of one’s privacy than the search and seizure of a personal computer. 

[3] First, police officers enter

The Infographic of the Day site has a fantastic item with some amazing graphics comparing the 100 Largest Sites on the Internet.

The BBC charted the top 100 sites by unique users in January 2010, encompassing the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil, U.S., and Australia. Oops – Canada didn’t make it, but suspect we are not that different.

If you think Google and social networking own the Internet – think again – and it isn’t shopping either. Yes these three types of sites are among the more widely visited – but all together they only account for . . . [more]

ICANN, the international body that manages the business of approving domain names and numbers, decided about two years ago to permit generic top-level domain names (gTLD), creating an application process that is expected to get underway this year.

The camera and technology company Canon Inc. announced yesterday that it has done what it can now to apply for the gTLD “.canon”, not suprprisingly, and staked out its territory:

Following approval for the new gTLD system, which is expected to take place after the latter half of 2011, Canon will make full use of the new domain name to increase

Boy, does time fly! Although at this time of year, that ’ s a good thing. It means that spring is nearly here, bringing with it another ABA TECHSHOW , and that it ’ s time for Law Practice ’ s annual Tech Tips issue. In this special issue, for the third year in a row, we celebrate the spirit of ABA TECHSHOW with a bounty of legal technology tips that you can put to use right away to help your days go more smoothly. Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find:

• Essential apps for your smartphone: Lawyers

A Spanish judge, Raul N. García Orejudo, has ruled that linking to copyrighted material is not illegal in SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores) vs. Jesus Guerra over the link site elrincondejesus.com.

Stan Schroeder of Mashable summarizes the proceedings:

First, he denied SGAE’s request to shut down Guerra’s site in June, saying that “P2P networks, as a mere transmission of data between Internet users, do not violate, in principle, any right protected by Intellectual Property Law.”

Now, he decided that “offering an index of links and/or linking to copyright material is not the same as distribution.” His decision

An article from yesterday’s Globe and Mail points out that the Tories are quietly cutting funding to organizations that benefit from Industry Canada’s Community Access Program (CAP). These organizations, which include hospitals, seniors groups and employment centres, use the cash from CAP to provide free Internet access to Canadians who don’t always have access to high-speed Internet or even access to computers, particularly those living in rural communities. Organizations that are located within 25 kilometres of a public library will no longer receive funding. . . . [more]