Technology law affects everything from Web site development to computer systems acquisition. Read on to discover some common pitfalls and tips for avoiding them.
An article addressing technology law developments would need to include close to 200 issues, traps, and tips to approach a complete review. However, since few magazines would publish and fewer people would read such an article, I will settle for 23, beginning with year 2000 and Internet-related issues and moving on to CD-ROMs, association management systems, and more.
1. ISSUE: YEAR 2000
Some organizations assume that Y2K is either not a problem or, at least, not this year's problem. What's worse, some associations that recognize Y2K problems focus exclusively on internal systems and ignore external relationships.
Trap: Associations may face significant economic damage and legal problems by not addressing Y2K in time. Software involving dates, such as billing or renewal software, that is not programmed for the year 2000 may need substantial work. Hardware and embedded chips also need attention.
Tip: Give Y2K issues top priority. Some organizations that did not do so are already involved in court cases. There are currently more than two dozen year 2000 cases on the dockets, with more expected monthly.
Get a technology expert's written opinion and get legal advice to help determine if the association's software, hardware, and embedded chips are compliant. Do the same for critical external relationships. Some key Y2K legal issues include:
* Copyrights - Modifying a software program to make it year 2000 compliant may constitute copyright infringement.
* Contracts - A vendor's obligation to make its software year 2000 compliant may be determined by the terms of an existing contract; for example, the contract from when the software was first installed.
* Insurance - Costs to make software Y2K compliant may be covered by a current or prior-year insurance policy (this is unlikely but worth checking).
* Deadlines - Insurance notice and statute of limitation deadlines are passing by every day. These deadlines depend on things like when the organization knew or should have known about a year 2000 problem. In many cases, inattention and missed deadlines lead to waived legal rights. (Call (202) 626-2742 for a copy of related article, Year 2000 Action - Now, which appeared in the May/June 1998 issue of TechnoScope.)
2. ISSUE: E-MAIL
As a newspaper reporter once commented, many people communicate by e-mail as if they are talking with their best friends - and only their best friends - in a private dining room at home. But nothing is further from the truth.
Trap: E-mail - including so-called deleted e-mail - has become a huge source of |
