LOCKERBIE RULING ON THE WEB - NOW
The Scottish legal publisher W.Green published an analysis of the judges ruling in the Lockerbie bombing trial at 1:00pm on Wednesday 31st January, just minutes after the controversial judgment was delivered. You can read the text at
www.wgreen.co.uk

REPORTS OF POLICE RAID AT L&H
The Belgian newspaper L'Echo has reported that the police have raided the headquarters of Lernout & Hauspie and various language development companies (LDCs), as part of the ongoing probe into the troubled Belgian company's accounts. According to L'Echo the police raids were ordered by the Belgian judiciary, with fraud squad detectives are reported to have seized documents described as "indicative of money laundering operations" by the newspaper.

PINDER EXPECTED TO BE NEW E-ENVOY
The UK government is expected to announce later this week that Andrew Pinder will become the UK's new e-envoy, with responsibility for overseeing government strategy on e-commerce and online services. Pinder, who has been the acting e-envoy since his predecessor Alex Allan quit in October, won out in a field of over 150 applicants for the job. Pinder has most recently been working as an independent IT consultant but his track record includes a stint as director of IT at the Inland Revenue.

Remaining in the realms of bureaucracy and red tape, from this week the UK's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner will be known as the Office of the Information Commissioner. The change reflects the fact that along with enforcing the Data Protection Act, the agency and is now also responsible for freedom of information matters. In a related development, the Information Systems Examinations Board (ISEB) of the British Computer Society has accredited the London-based law firm Masons to deliver formal training to data protection officers so that they can gain a formal qualification in relation to the Data Protection Act 1998. Masons is the first course provider to be granted accreditation in the UK for the ISEB's data protection syllabus.

ROLL UP TO LEGAL IT 2001
This week it was the turn of the United States, with LegalTech New York kicking off the Year 2001 legal IT events season. Next week it is the turn of the UK when The Legal IT 2001 event, the UK's first legal technology exhibition of the new year, takes place on February 7th & 8th at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London N1.

The number of exhibitors has increased by 20 percent on last year to 73. Over 55 percent of visitors preregistering for tickets (admission is free) have done so online - double last year's number. Just under half of all pre-reg visitors have expressed an interest in internet/intranet/extranet systems. And 35 percent have expressed an interest in know-how and knowledge management systems.

Exhibitors include the majority of the UK's leading legal systems vendors, all the major legal publishers plus internet and online legal systems suppliers, software integration specialists and suppliers of office automation products including email security, speech recognition, digital dictation and videoconferencing systems.

The event's theme is: From Bricks & Mortar to Clicks & Mortar - how to make the internet work for your practice. This is reflected in both the systems being exhibited - the majority of new products on display feature internet-friendly, web-enabled online access functions - and in the choice of keynote conference sessions.

With top calibre speakers from the English Law Society, the Baker Robbins consultancy, the Desktop Lawyer online legal service and FirstLAW.co.uk, the world's first purely internet based lawyers' practice, the event is offering a conference programme that is not only informative but also caters for all levels of interest - from building basic brochureware web sites, through to developing client portals and onto legal e-commerce sites that can earn you fees while you sleep.

Admission to both the exhibition and the conference sessions is free. To pre-register your attendance phone Cordial Events on 01491 575522 or register online at www.legalitshow.com The event opening hours are 9:30 am to 6:00 pm (Wednesday 7 February) and 9:30 am to 5:00 pm (Wednesday 8 February).

COMPANIES NOT WATCHING THEIR OWN NAMES
UK domain name registrar NetNames has just published the results of a survey it carried out among 400 of the UK's top 1000 companies. The study found that lerss than one percent have anybody within their company whose remit was ensuring that the company's domain names had been registered, protected and were being managed properly.

NetNames say the current situation means that registered domain names often go un-renewed and not all generic top-level domains, or country-code domains in regions where the firm operates, are registered. Many frequent 'typos' or hyphenated versions of company and brand names also go un-registered, leaving companies and their brands vulnerable to cybersquatters and typosquatters.

"These results are astounding," said Jonathan Robinson, CEO of NetBenefit, the parent company of NetNames. "It may have been understandable two or three years ago, when people were still unsure as to whether domain names fell under the remit of the IT or marketing departments. Today, however, the online strategy is a vital part of every large corporation. It's a damning indictment on our attitude towards the e-economy that less than one percent of companies have someone in place to take responsibility for their digital identity."

NOMINET TO REVIEW DISPUTE PROCEDURES
Nominet UK, the national registry for all dot UK domain names has opened a two-month public consultation as part of its review of procedures for dealing with domain name disputes. It is anticipated that the consultation will result in a new dispute resolution service being in place by the autumn.

Announcing the review, Nominet managing director, Dr Willie Black said that "Whilst the principle of first come, first served is crucial to the success of quick and efficient domain Name registration - and 99.9 percent of registrations are never challenged - where there is a domain name dispute, it needs to be resolved quickly."

Nominet proposes introducing a new two-stage test in order to substantiate whether a registration has been made in bad faith. This new rule is intended to deal directly with the problem of cybersquatting, where a domain names is registered with the intention of disrupting another's business. Under the new proposals, if mediation is unsuccessful after 14 days, the case will be referred for a decision to an independent legal expert on payment of a fee of between £500-1000 by the complainant. Full details can be found at
www.nominet.org.uk/drs-review.html

MICROSOFT ACCUSES JUDGE OF BIAS
In its latest filing to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the ongong antitrust case, Microsoft has urged the court to reverse the decision at first instance because the trial judge "demonstrated an animus towards Microsoft so strong that it inevitably infected his rulings". Microsoft also said that if parts of the case needed to be retried, it should be heard before another judge because the original trial judge - US District Judge Thomas Penfield - had been quoted in a book criticising Microsoft founder Bill Gates for having "a Napoleonic concept of himself and his company". The appeal hearings return to court on 26th and 27th of February.

MIDWARE RAISES EXTRA FUNDING
Sydney-based Midware Systems, a leading provider of workflow and document production software for the Australia legal market, has successfully completed a multi-million capital raising and the transition to a publicly listed company. Shareholders include directors, employees and law firm clients of Midware.have all taken shares based on their excitement about the companyÕs existing solution set and innovative expansion plans. Commenting on the deal Midware managing director Mark Flack said "The capital raising enables a number of actions that will ultimately let us deliver the full benefits of technology to our clients. There are many dynamic legal practices in Australia looking for better ways to employ technology. To be successful they need business partners with long-term viability and the ability to provide and commit to ongoing research and development."

RAKISONS AND STEPTOE COMPLETE MERGER
UK niche telecoms practice Rakisons has completed its merger with the US law firm Steptoe & Johnson. The firm will now be know as Steptoe & Johnson Rakisons in the UK. One consequence of the merger will be the creation of a new technology, internet & media law group headed by David Judah (previously a partner at Jeffrey Green Russell) in London and Stewart Baker in Washington.

WEST GROUP ACQUIRES FINDLAW
US legal publisher West Group has just announced the acquisition of FindLaw, one of the US pioneers of free online legal information and services and the US legal web's most highly trafficked legal portal. The acquisition gives West Group an expanded presence on the web for serving legal professionals and their clients, and provides FindLaw with the resources for continuing the development and expansion of its acclaimed content and services. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Legal News Media, the publishers of this ezine, are currently compiling their first quarterly chart of the busiest legal web sites in the United States.

GAME FOR A TEMPLATE
Leeds law firm Walker Morris has created a bespoke legal template for the acquisition of games designed for the internet and interactive digital television. The games are for broadcast on PlayJam - the world's first dedicated interactive games channel - recently launched on Sky Digital, and is the only channel of its kind which offers users a selection of fun and easy to play games. Director of new media at Walker Morris, Ralph Coyle, acted for Static 2358 Limited, the visual media company which owns and developed PlayJam, and also advised on some of the regulatory aspects relating to the ITC.

ABSOLUTE SQUATTING AND REVERSE HIJACKING
Sweden's State-owned producer of Absolut Vodka has launched a cybersquatting action in the High Court in London against the online Sydney, Australia, swimwear startup Absolut Beach. By coincidence, scientific publishers Derwent Information have just published a new book "Caught in a Web - intellectual property in cyberspace" which claims there is a growing trend for 'reverse hijacking' whereby individuals and small businesses are being bullied into giving up their legitimately registered domain names by larger organisations. The book claims the corporate bullies take advantage of the fact that the original domain name owners lack the time and financially resources to fight prolonged litigation. You can read this section of the book at
www.ipmatters.net/webcaught/intro.html

LEGAL TECHNOLOGY NEWS.COM - FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF LEGAL TECHNOLOGY INSIDER. NEXT ISSUE 09.02.2001