MySpace fights crime
Slashdot points to a Newsweek article that talks about police solving crimes using evidence from MySpace. Seems that the criminals have boasted about their crimes, or even posted video of themselves in the act.
David Canton is a business lawyer and trade-mark agent with a practice focusing on technology issues and technology companies.
Slashdot points to a Newsweek article that talks about police solving crimes using evidence from MySpace. Seems that the criminals have boasted about their crimes, or even posted video of themselves in the act.
David Canton – for the London Free Press – April 15, 2006
When using a document as evidence, the court must be convinced the document is valid and reliable.
Rules for paper evidence have evolved. Electronic evidence — a recent phenomenon measured in legal time — can pose challenges.
In November 2005, the Canadian General Standards Board published the National Standard for the use of Electronic Documents as Documentary Evidence.
The standard “is intended for use by those who want to ensure that the recorded information . . . in their IT systems is trustworthy, reliable and recognized as authentic.”
Increasingly, documents are stored only in their electronic form.
“Documents” or “records” include any document in electronic form, including text, images of paper documents, audio, video and financial transactions.
When it becomes necessary to rely on these documents, whether in a court proceeding or in a business situation, one must be able to show that the electronic version is reliable.
The standard describes best practices for electronic storage of information.
If an organization follows the standard, it will ensure its electronic documents are reliable in any situation, whether involving business or legal matters.
As a general rule, an electronic record may be used as evidence in a court proceeding if is shown to be reliable.
The person relying on the electronic document must be able to verify its authenticity and the integrity of the records management system in which the document was kept.
The document must also have been made in the usual and ordinary course of business.
In essence, the record must be part of one’s normal business routine and be stored in a way that minimizes the ability to alter or tamper with it, intentionally or otherwise.
Backup procedures and audit trails are examples of the required steps.
The first step in establishing a proper records management system is the creation of a policy document or bylaw that states electronic records are part of the organization or company’s usual and ordinary course of business.
This document should outline the requirements for all aspects of maintaining and using electronic documents.
The policy should also outline specific procedures for compliance with relevant legislation and regulations.
A manual should be drafted to establish procedures for the records management system.
The manual should describe procedures for the creation, management and disposal of electronic documents. It should describe who is responsible for the management and supervision of the records management system program.
Complying with all of the requirements of the standard involves significant resources. It is not always necessary for every organization to implement every procedure in the standard.
An organization should consider its needs and resources to determine the best approach to preserve the authenticity of its electronic documents.
The standard and the manual derived from it can be of benefit beyond their use as guidelines for evidence in court. They can also be used to ensure and demonstrate the integrity of the records management system in general.
Given the comprehensive nature of the standard and the fact it provides the basis for a records management system that would stand up in court, it is safe to say that if an organization takes the time to implement those procedures, it will ensure its electronic documents will remain reliable in any situation.
The standard can be ordered from the Canadian General Standards Board at www.ongc-cgsb.gc.ca
Michael Geist has some posts about the latest CRIA / copyright law developments.
CRIA has called for an end to the private copy levy – even though it was CRIA that wanted it in the first place.
CRIA made a controversial CRTC submission recently that contained claims about file sharing that have been criticized as being inconsistent with the results of their own studies.
Now 6 Canadian members of CRIA have pulled out, saying that CRIA does not represent thier interests.
Add to that the news that the government does indeed plan to introduce a copyright reform bill.
Hopefully this will lead to some careful balanced thought as to the direction the reform should take.
For mre detail, take a look at Michael’s post linked below, and his 2 posts before that.
David Fraser has a couple of posts in his Canadian Privacy Law blog about sensitive documents with personal information blowing around an alley. The documents belonged to a law firm. Of course, the BC privacy commissioner is looking into it.
No word yet on how they actually got there.
Take a look at the video of a CTV news report linked on the site that shows the documents blowing around.
Techdirt has a post that refers to a study about DVR (digital video recorder) users. Seems that the ads are just as effective when we fast forward through them. The theory is that when we fast forward, we pay attention to the ads to spot when they end. Despite the speed, we see enough of the ads that we remember the message.
Wonder if that will change how ads are made? For instance, ads could have an image or logo that stays in one place for the entire ad, just so it is obvious when one fast forwards.
David Canton – for the London Free Press – April 8, 2006
The term “continuous partial attention” was coined in 1997 by Microsoft Research executive Linda Stone Creators of goods and services struggle with this growing trend to determine how it affects their products, both good and bad.
It refers to the state of being presented with information from many different sources at once, all of which are competing for the person’s attention — in other words, our way of coping with information overload.
This is different than multitasking, which is about trying to accomplish several things at once. Continuous partial attention is where we scan incoming information for the one best thing to pay attention to. It is motivated by a desire not to miss something important.
The sheer amount of information available to us has increased dramatically. There is more information in some weekend newspapers than individuals used to absorb in their entire lifetime.
As the availability of information sources increases, so does the tendency to exist in this state of continuous partial attention. E-mail, instant messaging, RSS feeds, cellphones, TV, MP3 players, satellite and conventional radio and websites are all designed to draw our attention and are all doing it at the same time.
When faced with many sources of information, Stone argues, it becomes impossible to pay full attention to one thing; rather we focus on that thing and pay a bit of attention to everything else in case something important appears.
Sometimes this tendency can frustrate others who may feel they are not being paid sufficient attention to, such as when one answers a cellphone for an unimportant call in the middle of a conversation. I was told of a presenter at a conference who stopped his presentation in the middle to respond to a message on his BlackBerry.
The persistent availability of information has led to the proliferation of companies and websites whose sole purpose is to prioritize information.
Google prioritizes search results. Postini filters e-mail to eliminate spam. Websites and blogs such as slashdot, digg and engadget summarize and filter information. NetFlix rates movies based on the user’s preferences. The Info-Tech Research Group summarizes information-technology-related information from various sources for IT professionals’ use.
All of this prioritizing, compiling, summarizing and rating is done in an effort to reduce the torrent of information down to a manageable stream.
A key element of this reduction is the attempt to filter the information stream to reflect the user’s interests.
It’s the modern equivalent of the Reader’s Digest or the evening news — but focused more on individual interests, rather than mass appeal.
As this prioritizing technology matures and becomes more sophisticated and trusted, we may spend less time in the state of continuous partial attention. Once we become comfortable that the filters provide us the information we desire, we may become tired of the static and choose to focus more attention on fewer things at once.
Another key is for technology to become better at providing information across different platforms — the convergence that has been promised for years.
Stone recently said, “Trusted filters, trusted protectors, trusted concierge, human or technical, removing distractions and managing boundaries, filtering signal from noise, enabling meaningful connections that make us feel secure, are the opportunity for the next generation.”
The idea is that technology will allow us to customize our individual information flow. Technology will allow us to prioritize information ahead of time, so that when it reaches us, it is in a form to which we can pay full attention.
A couple of days ago I mentioned that there was hope for the net neutrality concept to be included in US legislation.
Unfortunately, it did not happen.
Take a look at this ZDNet article that is very critical and blunt about what we may be in for if the concept of Internet neutrality is not upheld.
David Fraser reports in his Canadian Privacy Law Blog that the Federal government has released a report about its concerns about cross border data flow. The issue relates to the ability of foreign government agencies to look at the personal information of Canadians that resides in or flows though that country.
This issue has been the topic of much debate in privacy circles.
David has included the executive summary on his site.
The agenda for the upcoming Mesh Web 2.0 conference is now available.
Looks like some interesting discussions with some influential and innovative people. The only problem is how to choose between the alternate sessions!
New telecom legislation is being considered in the US. It recently did not deal with the need for network neutrality.
Apparently there has been a change of heart, as there has been a promise that netwrok neutrality provisions will indeed be included. More info is in the linked articles.
Lets hope those provisions are effective, and that the Canadian government embraces the network neutrality concept as well.
Unless otherwise stated, all original material created by David Canton included in this blog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
