From: [j c morris] at [mwunix.mitre.org] (Joe Morris)
Newsgroups: news.admin.misc,misc.legal.moderated,alt.folklore.computers
Subject: The C&S Green Card mess -- an article in _Law Practice Management_
Date: 17 Jun 1994 23:41:50 -0400

Just in case some readers on the net might get the idea that the legal
profession is in solid agreement with the Canter & Siegel spamming
expeditions, the following material might be of interest.

It's an excerpt from the column "Technology Update" by Burgess Allison.
The column from which I've extracted it will appear in the September
1994 issue of _Law Practice Management_, a publication of the American
Bar Association.  In the columns Burgess discusses issues related to the
use of computers in the operation of law offices; his writing makes
me think of how the Spencer T. Katt columns in _PC Leak_ might sound
if stripped of the bragging about rumors.  (Very readable; if you've
got access to a library that carries the publication you should look
it up.)  (I'm referring to "Technology Update", not "Rumor Central"!)

In reading the material remember that his intended audience is other
lawyers, not technojunkies.  Note the suggestions he makes about 
responsible advertising.

Obdisclaimer: the opinions belong to Burgess and do not necessarily
represent those of the American Bar Association, its members, or
the MITRE Corporation.  Copyright (c) 1994 G. Burgess Allison and
the American Bar Association; posted to USENET by permission.


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INTERNET WATCH

    *  An Arizona law firm (Canter & Siegel) has, unfortunately,
established a presence on the internet that puts the legal profession in
the same category with electronic junk mail and Skinny Dip thigh cream.
The firm decided to post a series of email advertisements to thousands
of discussion groups throughout the internet (which, in turn, are posted
to several million host computers around the world).  As you might guess,
this is considered a grievous breach of standards and practices within
the internet community, and has generated a firestorm of opposition.
The response--on this otherwise *laissez faire* frontier--has been a
sort of internet vigilante justice.  Since there is no "sheriff" who can
shut down the undesired behavior, the e-vigilantes respond to unsolicited
mailings with a *torrent* of unsolicited replies--in volumes that are
sufficient to crash the host system of the intended target.  Remarkably,
the firm announced plans to start advising *others* on how to make use of
this new advertising medium.

    Here's *my* advice.  Don't.

    If you want to advertise on the net, there are much better ways to
do it.  Hundreds of other organizations are successfully using the net
to announce their skills and availability (in much more detail than any
pamphlet or mailing could hope to cover)--but without violating the
practices and standards of the network.  And without inspiring a violent
backlash.  They do it by setting up their own bulletin boards, or by
participating in some of the burgeoning e-yellowpages that are springing
up at various sites.  Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti, for example,
set up an internet-accessible "World Wide Web" server (http://venable.com/
vbh.htm).  And O'Reilly & Associates' Global Network Navigator (GNN) lists
several law firms in the GNN marketplace (http://nearnet.gnn.com/mkt/
rescenter.html).

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Joe Morris / MITRE