It would be wonderful to see some Nashville programmers listed in those Communicator credits. If you make it into the final code, let me know, and I'll brag for you. It may be the scissors that will finally cut through all that red tape. In courts in California and other states, Microsoft officials are testing Web-based software that will allow lawyers to file their suits with courts electronically, and even allow court fee payment online. Not only that, but reporters and others who traditionally had to trudge over to the courthouse to look through mile-high stacks of paper will instead be able to log on and sift through all the publicly available documents.
Some courts charge small fees for copies of public record documents.
It remains to be seen whether the online versions of those documents will be available without charge. Microsoft also claims that ECourt can save millions of dollars in storage costs alone by moving to an electronic system. Perhaps the justice department owes Bill Gates more than they think. For a while now, Microsoft has badly wanted its Windows NT to become the standard operating system for devices other than personal computers, like television set-top boxes that allow users to connect to the Internet through their television sets. Although the software giant recently acquired the most popular television-Internet company, WebTV, Sun's deal with television manufacturer Hitachi means there's one less device in the world being run by Microsoft technology.