legal notices at the end of emails

[Ryan Coleman]

On Jul 27, 2011, at 6:30 AM, Jerry wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:08:04 +0200
> Svein Skogen (Listmail account) articulated:
> 
>> On 27.07.2011 13:01, Damien Fleuriot wrote:
>>> On 7/27/11 5:11 PM, perryh at pluto.rain.com wrote:
>>>> Ryan Coleman <editor at d3photography.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> A heads up about your footer: This email goes onto a mailing
>>>>> list that is available via an online archive... your "terms"
>>>>> are violated just by sending an email to this mailing list.
>>>> 
>>>> Not necessarily.  It says [emphasis added]:
>>>> 
>>>>>> The contents of this eMail ... should not be disclosed
>>>>>> to, ... anyone _other than the intended addressee(s)_ ...
>>>>>> Any _unauthorized_ review ... is strictly prohibited ...
>>>> 
>>>> I don't see a problem provided the archived mailing list is
>>>> considered to be among "the intended addressee(s)" and the
>>>> sender is considered, by the act of sending it to an archived
>>>> list, to have authorized the archiving (and implicitly any
>>>> subsequent use of the archive).
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> All the same, any of you guys ever take this kind of notice
>>> seriously ? I mean, really ?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> See, you've actually read the e-mail prior to reading (and thus
>>> accepting or refusing) the "legal" notice.
>>> 
>>> It's like me sending you an e-mail, with a footer saying "By reading
>>> this e-mail you hereby forfeit all of your fortune, properties and
>>> claims in favor of Pwnd LTD, who shall be the sole and universal
>>> beneficiary, and has just done you good.".
>>> 
>>> Just because they appear in an e-mail and you've read that e-mail
>>> doesn't mean you've acknowledged said terms, let alone accepted
>>> them.
>> 
>> Exactly. You did not solicit an agreement with the sender before the
>> agreement appeared, and since it required no active part on your half,
>> it is non-binding.
>> 
>>> I for one, on principle, decline to abide by such terms, which may
>>> in no case be enforced on me, seeing I never accepted them in the
>>> first place.
>> 
>> I think the reasoning is the legal principle of "whatever people think
>> we can get away with, because we have a lawyer so slippery PTFT
>> manufacturers are suing us for patent violations"
>> 
>>> One would have to get my consent to abide by their legal notice THEN
>>> send me the actual contents.
>>> 
>>> Now, that would work.
>>> Then again, on principle I would decline said terms so they couldn't
>>> send me whatever they wanted...
>> 
>> Those e-mail-footers of legalese-sounding mumbo-jumbo threatening
>> voodoo-action against you and anybody standing next to you, should you
>> not be the sole designated, implied or expressed, recipient of that
>> e-mail, are _LESS_ binding than "shrinkwrap EULAs", and has less
>> actual legal content than the gold-content of seawater. They add the
>> footers to sound important. It's a mild case of narcissism.
>> 
>> //Svein
> 
> I find it rather amusing that anyone actually reads, far less pays any
> attention to those useless pieces of garbage (disclaimers). Although I
> do find it interesting that some pseudo Internet sheriff will condemn
> the use of HTML mail in forums as wasted bandwidth yet stay mum on the
> killing of defenseless electrons with the implementation of these
> pointless disclaimers.
> 
> -- 
> Jerry
> 
> This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
> intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they
> are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient of this
> transmission, please delete it immediately.
> 
> Obviously, I am the idiot who sent it to you by mistake. Furthermore,
> there is no way I can force you to delete it. Worse, by the time you
> have reached this disclaimer you have all ready read the document.
> Telling you to forget it would seem absurd. In any event, I have no
> legal right to force you to take any action upon this email anyway.
> 
> This entire disclaimer is just a waste of everyone's time and
> bandwidth. Therefore, let us just forget the whole thing and enjoy a
> cold beer instead.
> _________________


Nice disclaimer. :)

They have their place. CPAs, Bankers, mortgage, transferring of sensitive data, etc. But they really mean nothing. :)