All empires eventually decline and fall despite their valiant attempts to maintain the status quo.
Originally coined to describe IBM's marketing tactics in the 1960s and 70s, usage of the FUD acronym has expanded over the ears to describe any situation in which entrenched companies use their influence and resources to squelch the adoption of new technologies. ASPs are poised to bring the age of desktop software to a close because they enable people, including lawyers, to run software programs from remote servers via the Internet rather than from their local hard drive. In addition, ASPs handle backups, maintenance, upgrades, and security. Although new to the legal world, ASPs have existed for a few years in other markets. This fact alone does not necessarily validate the use of ASPs by law firms, but it does warrant further investigation.