UK - http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/stupid-disclaimers/
US - http://www.slate.com/id/2101561/ Now, shall I do a line-by-line analysis of the disclaimer, as in the slate.com article? No, but I'll point out a couple of salient features: 1) There are two instances of the phrase "may contain" - weasel words that mean nothing, and don't make a case for anything. 2) The word "prohibited" means nothing, since no authority is cited for the prohibition. Indeed, the citation of HIPAA later (and the vague handwaving about possible other Federal and Florida laws) is useless, since you (or your organization) will be the ones subject to sanctions, not me as recipient, because I wasn't an authorized receiver anyway. If I had to make a guess, the board of certified lawyers provided your org with a way to say nothing, and feel good about it. Nice work if you can get it, I suppose. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to add disclaimers for our UK office, and I *still* think it's a bad idea, but at least it won't contain privacy claims, if I have my say. I realize that you personally aren't responsible for this, and had no real control over it, but you really ought to wake up and smell what they're shoveling. Kurt On Jan 2, 2008 9:22 AM, John Cook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Said disclaimer was approved by a > legal group on retainer (that's a group of board certified lawyers if it's not > clear) that actually knows what they are talking about, which school of > law did you graduate from? If you actually read it you would have realized > that while reading the message was fine (even if you received it by mistake) > doing anything other than destroying it (unless you were the intended > recipient) > is prohibited. You DO read the entire text of every EULA you click ok for > don't you?????? > > John W. Cook > System Administrator > Partnership For Strong Families > 315 SE 2nd Ave > Gainesville, Fl 32601 > Office (352) 393-2741 x320 > Cell (352) 215-6944 > Fax(352) 393-2746 > MCSE, MCTS, MCP+I,CompTIA A+, N+ > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kurt Buff [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 12:07 PM > To: NT System Admin Issues > > Subject: Re: Sig lines & disclaimers (was RE: Happy new year) > > On 1/2/08, David Lum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Flamed? Damn...I see no reason for flames as I understand the need for such > > disclaimers, I'm just glad I don't have to do that....yet. If I had to do a > > CMA disclaimer I'd just have a link that points to one. Takes Internet to > > get e-mail, takes Internet to read the disclaimer...in effect it takes HTTP > > + > > e-mail to make anything said in the e-mail "legitimate". Hey, that's not > > much worse than some of the EULA's we see, right? > > > > Lawyers will likely disagree, but hey, I'm allowed to like my own theory > > right? > > Not worth a flame, but that disclaimer is certainly not worth including, > either. > > No lawyer worth his salt will defend such a thing in court, because > it's basically worthless. Not only is it a footer, which means you > only get to see it *after* you've read the message, you can't enforce > it after it's arrived in someone's inbox by mistake. > > Kurt > <snip> > > > CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: The information transmitted, or contained or > > attached to or with this Notice is intended only for the person or entity to > > which it is addressed and may contain Protected Health Information (PHI), > > confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, transmission, > > dissemination, or other use of, and taking any action in reliance upon this > > information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient without > > the express written consent of the sender are prohibited. This information > > may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act > > of 1996 (HIPAA), and other Federal and Florida laws. Improper or > > unauthorized use or disclosure of this information could result in civil > > and/or criminal penalties. ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
