E-mail is fraught with monstrous possibilities. Also, that information may well have been a trade secret. Well, it's not a secret anymore. Not only that, once it's published, you may not be able to patent it. According to Information Week, that's a direct quote from an actual case that the company was forced to settle.
Nobody can afford to ignore cyberspace.
But the more informed you are, the better. The better you understand the current laws and the policies behind them and the inherent tensions we've talked about, the more easily you can crank them into your legal risk analysis. I'd also say no. In the same way we survived with copyright when we went from the written word to radio, from silent to talking films to television to VCRs, courts will find ways to adapt to this. Return to the top.