Commentary: The Internet Lawyer- Tech Roundup: Registered e-mail,

The Internet Lawyer has pulled together a list of new and useful products, services and websites that may be of interest to attorneys, including registered e-mail, options for preventing e- theft, website recommendations and more.

We hope you find some of the suggestions to be of practical use to you and your practice.

You've Got (Registered) Mail

Tired of hanging out at the post office?

While the world becomes increasingly paper-free, lawyers continue to be mired in paper mail.

Traditionally, you would send a certified letter or a FedEx package in order to prove when, what and whom you sent something to, Zafar Khan, CEO and co-founder of RPost, said. But there was nothing like that for e-mail.

Until now.

Khan said the company developed the technology in 1999 in response to a consumer need. Registered e-mail is exactly what it sounds like: An e-mail with legal, verifiable proof that it was sent and received.

The proof is an electronic receipt, returned to the sender in a counterfeit-free form.

For lawyers, that means documents can legally be served via e- mail, and if signed electronically, can be enforced as contracts with the registered receipt as proof.

Once the software is downloaded, users of RPost have an additional send option on their e-mail toolbar.

When they want to send a registered e-mail, they click the alternate send button and will receive an electronic receipt with the date, time and even the content of the message (with any attachments).

And at any time, the receipt holder can verify the content of the message.

Alex Khan, Zafar's younger brother and RPost's director of services, explained that the software compresses the text and any attachments in the registered messages as part of the receipt the original sender receives.

He also emphasized that RPost doesn't store any of the information on its server.

In addition, the Register Reply feature allows registered e-mail recipients to send a registered reply, even if they don't have the software.

The service is especially valuable for IP attorneys who need to send cease-and-desist notices, Zafar Khan said.

Often an Internet address is the only information available on a website, he said. RPost is perfect not only because of the proof that the message was sent but also because you can't send certified mail internationally.

Dennis J. Rasor, a corporate attorney at Greenberg Traurig in Costa Mesa, Calif., said registered e-mail is also a great tool for business lawyers.

RPost allows me to e-mail time-sensitive documents, such as director and shareholder written consents or contract notices, with assurance that delivery is verifiable and admissible in court, he said.

He also appreciates that during negotiations, the service allows him to verify that interested parties receive his messages in a timely manner.

RPost offers two pricing plans.

For $29 per month, users get 100 registered e-mails. An annual flat-fee rate is also available, with 100 e-mails available for $300 per year.

Alternatively, RPost offers a metered rate with blocks of e- mails for user groups, such as a firm. For example, a user can purchase 250 registered e-mails to use without an expiration date for $173. Smaller and larger blocks are offered.

Both plans require a $39 per account activation fee for 50 or fewer users, an amount which decreases with more accounts. The fee includes off-site support.

RPost offers a live demonstration for new users.

The cost savings are tremendous, Zafar Khan said. In addition to saving the cost of certified or return receipt mailings, the time saved adds up as well - a savings that is passed on to your clients.

He also noted that RPost meets the legal standards for proof of delivery and receipt of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), a feature Jeremiah Buckley, a partner at Buckley Kolar in Washington, D.C., also praised.

Registered e-mail offers significant advantages to our financial services clients who need reliable proof that disclosures and confirmations are reaching their customers in a timely way, he said.

He added that the record retention features are invaluable when proving an e-transaction in court.

To get registered, go to www.rpost.com.

Preventing Theft

As laptops and other computerized gadgets have grown smaller and more mobile, the risk of theft has increased dramatically.

To protect your portable technology, companies have developed two lines of recovery.

New technology known as track and recovery has become available to help the casual consumer get his stolen laptop back.

The software operates on the assumption that all computers will eventually be connected to the Internet.

For as little as $29.95 for the life of your computer, www.pcphonehome.com will track your computer's whereabouts every time it connects to the Internet. Once a connection is made, the software sends a message to a predetermined e-mail address with the location of the computer.

If a computer is stolen, the owner reports it missing to the local police, notifies the software command center, and then waits for the computer to connect to the Internet.

The software is compatible with both PCs and Macs, and the company offers discounts for families or businesses with multiple computers.

For those who prefer more traditional protection, a number of companies now offer insurance specifically for technology.

While some products are covered under the umbrella of homeowner's insurance, the deductibles often cost more than the item itself. With this is mind, www.safeware.com offers damage and theft insurance for both computers and smaller items, such as PDAs.

After entering information such as the type of gadget, location (by state), date of purchase and potential travel destinations, Safeware will estimate a premium and deductible.

For example, a $2,000 laptop purchased in January 2005 and used primarily for business in Ohio can be insured for a one time fee of $120 with no deductible. Coverage includes theft, accidental damage and complete repair or replacement.

Gooroo For You

For attorneys who advertise online, a new search company has simplified the process of combating trademark infringement.

AdGooroo, launched in early May, is a service that allows trademark holders to monitor the use of their marks on the Internet.

After providing information about the mark, the user receives daily e-mail alerts and detailed infringement incident reports that document unauthorized use. In addition, the product generates automatic complaint letters to be sent to infringers.

The cost of the service is controlled by the number of keywords requested in the search. For $49 per month, the starter plan allows a purchaser to choose 25 keywords to be monitored.

The price includes daily e-mail alerts and an ad archive, which documents the infringing use.

The cost increases with the number of keywords and additional features, ranging up to professional and enterprise reporting for large corporations, with more than 2,000 keyword plans.

A company representative can help you choose appropriate keywords.

AdGooroo does not require a contract, and it's possible to change plans at any time. Because all the searching is done off-site, no additional system requirements are necessary - just a browser and an Internet connection.

The service might also be a good recommendation for clients concerned about Internet trademark infringement.

Check it out at www.adgooroo.com.

Sites To See

The following are a handful of websites lawyers might find interesting:

* Navigating a sea of blogs. www.technorati.com helps lawyers stay on top of the constantly changing world of blogs. Technorati is a weblog search and notification service that currently includes more than 9.5 million blogs. With its real-time search engine, you can find up-to-the-minute postings.

A recent search for sentencing guidelines returned 1,874 posts to various blogs, sorted by the most recent, which was posted just eight minutes earlier.

With free registration, you can receive a watch list based on your search terms and be instantly notified of a new posting. For those who blog, the service lets you know who links to your site and what people are saying about your blog, and for those who enjoy reading blogs, you get convenient updates on your favorite topics.

* Quick translations. www.polyglot.com.cn provides fast translation services, specializing in financial, legal and technical documents or websites. It can translate more than 30 languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Italian and Dutch.

In addition, the company offers instantaneous translation services for international meetings or depositions.

* High-end auctions. Need to sell something that is truly special? www.igavel.com is an established online auction site specializing in antiques, collectibles and fine art. The site requires registration and the rules are similar to eBay's with regard to bidding.

Users will appreciate the ability to reach a broad audience, especially when the local market isn't promising. The site also offers consignment fees and can provide guarantees of authenticity and condition for your items.

* One-stop search of government data. www.elegus.com is a new search engine that allows users to search the contents of almost any United States federal or state website at one time. While the judiciary section is similar to other opinion databases, the site also includes an impressive list of cabinet departments and independent federal agencies, including presidential libraries.

While all of the websites can be found singly, the ability to search across federal and state databases simultaneously is a big time-saver.

* Animal law. Lawyers Weekly USA, a sister publication of The Internet Lawyer, has recently reported on the growth of animal law around the country, but for those just dabbling in the area, www.animallaw.info will quickly bring you up to speed. Michigan State University College of Law professor David Favre launched the site in late 2002 as the Animal Legal and History Web Center.

The site is frequently updated with case law and contains legal materials from all 50 states, as well as federal and international regulations. The search engine also allows you to search by topic, with subjects ranging from everyday dog bites to whales.

* Organizing search results. Finally, for those who dislike having to wade through hundreds of search results for the item they're looking for, www.clusty.com will sort the results into group folders by clustering together the main themes of a search.

For example, a search of supreme court returned hundreds of results. But similar results are grouped together into different folders so that a dozen or so results are listed for a variety of sub-categories, such as appeals, justices, rules, opinions and oral arguments.

Copyright 2005 Dolan Media Newswires
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