Ferrari Mailing List: Dr. Steve's sigs (and the ultimate disclaimer)

[Dennis Liu (bigheaddennis]

Good luck with the ECU.  Very common and annoying problem.


<no ferrari content below, but do read MY sig at the end.... >
 
Re:  "And to all of the group, my apologies for the number of long trailers
and responses which will probably fill up a digest by itself. Working in the
Woodburn office today and the computer there just adds them in. I didn't
want to neglect to thank anyone who chipped in with advice and I figured
that it would be better to recognize them than to just cut down on
bandwidth. Yes, I know there is probably a way to cut it off the end on
personal stuff, and yes, it can be annoying on a list like that, but since
it was "suggested" by the lawyers for the underwriters of our
malpractice/professional liability insurance I guess I'm just going to live
with it and ask you to do the same."

Well, actually, there is positively a way you can edit the sig, Dr. Steve.
Whether you do it in AOL or in Outlook or another email client, you or
someone working with you built the sig, so there are ways to edit them.  

Consider that when you post a simple message to the list, such as
"Congratulations Tom, enjoy driving it.", that five word response results in
all of us also getting your 249 word sig.  That's right, a 5:249 ratio.
Now, of course, I doubt many if any of us are actually reading the sig, but
if no one is bothering to read it, then why include it?

If you really do want to cut your sig shorter, kindly consider inserting
only appropriate sigs, depending on the addressee and content.  In Outlook,
you can select which sigs to send with which messages.  

Other suggestions (just trying to be helpful):

1.  Long list of cars owned.  Do you think it's required for every message?
If you think it's relevant, should the rest of us add the contents of our
garage to our sigs?  (And, BTW, I don't know if you've corrected the
spelling in your sig on all of your computers, but on at least one, your sig
stated that you owned a "1988 Rolls Rouce Silver Spur".)

------------

2.  "Legal Notice: This message does not constitute legal or other
professional advice, nor does it create an Attorney/Client, or other
confidential or fiduciary relationship between the sender and/or any other
party"

        You're not a lawyer (I'll assume this because the list of initials
after Dr. Steve does not include "J.D.", "L.L.M." or "Esq."  So why do you
need to disclaim the existence of an attorney/client relationship?  Sure,
you're an expert witness, but by definition, if you're a witness testifying
on someone's behalf, you're not their attorney.  Sure, you CAN have this
disclaimer, if you want belts and suspenders and superglue and a staple gun,
but you do not need it when you're sending an email out to hundreds of
people on an email list, as that act alone would breach any confidentiality
privilege, even if you were a lawyer, the other communicant was seeking
legal advice and/or providing you with privileged information, AND if you
were providing advice that could possibly be construed as such.

------------

3.  Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail (including attachments) is covered
by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U. S. C., Sections
2510-2521, and is intended only for the person or entity to which it is
addressed, and may contain confidential or privileged material. Any
unauthorized review, use, disclosure, dissemination, copying, forwarding or
distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient contact
the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
If you are the intended recipient but do not wish to receive communications
through this medium please so advise the sender immediately.

        Useless disclaimer.  The ECPA offers virtually no real protection.
Especially as how the Act is intended to protect against electronic
EAVESDROPPING and WIRETAPPING, making it a criminal offense for someone to
intercept your email.  So by virtue of the fact that you're sending an OPEN
EMAIL TO HUNDREDS of recipients, it's irrelevant.  In any case, the terms of
the Act apply whether or not you include the disclaimer, so it's entirely
redundant.  So why add it?  (BTW, the citation in your disclaimer is
slightly outdated due to the amendments of the Patriot act.)

------------

4.  Electronic Transmission Security Notice: E-mail transmission cannot be
guaranteed to be secure or error-free. The sender does not accept liability
for any errors or omissions in the contents of the message that arises as a
result of its electronic (e-mail) transmission.

        Again, useless.  I'm not aware of a single case brought by anyone
over an error or omission resulting from an electronic transmission (but let
me guess, you have a similar disclaimer on all of your fax cover sheets too,
right?).  Another case of overstepping by insurers/lawyers.  Let's say that
there is an error in transmission.  Just having this disclaimer in place
does nothing of actual worth to your defense if such a case were to be
brought.  

Just trying to be helpful!  :-)


Vty,

--Dennis

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