full-disclosure - irc legaility

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From: live4java at stormcenter.net (Mister Coffee)
Subject: irc legaility

Simon Lorentsen wrote:
> Hi guys / gals,
> 
> Had a conversation tonight, and have been reading the IRC threads and 
> wondered if anyone could answer the following.
> 
> In the following scenario; you are a business, is IRC logs of 
> conversations and lists of hosts be help up in a court of law if a 
> client you spoke to refused to pay or hold up the end of a bargain or 
> agreement, and is faxing a document (no hard copies sent via post) 
> accepted as a legal document in a court of law.
> 
They could probably be introduced as evidence (email has, after all) but 
their chances of holding up are fairly limited.  It's far too easy to 
fake IRC channel and message logs for them to really convince a jury of 
anything.

If you had sevral logs, from different sources, and they were all the 
same, it -might- carry a little more weight.  As far as acceptance as a 
"legal document" I believe the answer is "no."

Courts are still a little iffy on digital signatures.  Plaintext?  It 
would be a tough case to make.

> I appreciate any help you can give.
> 
While there are some exceptionally knowledgeble IT folks on this list, 
this probably isn't the best place to go for advice on legal matters.

Cheers,
L4J