#23369
Technical and Scientific Communication: Research on the Internet-Expanding Wealth or Chaos? 
Since writers/communicators now carry legal responsibility for what they write, on paper or online, it would be useful to students in Technical and Scientific Communication Programs to have instruction in communication law and explore its many applications online.
Turpin, Elizabeth R. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Legal
#26598
A Technical Communicator's Pro Bono Guide to Attorneys 
While our job requirements and responsibilities are ever-changing, our allies remain the same. They include one crucial team member who will help you far more than you realize ∆ your attorney. If you don’t already have one, you may think that this is an additional expense that you cannot afford; after all, how often do you plan on being sued? However, good attorneys do more than represent you in court. Let’s take a look at what they can do for you.
Torres, Derek. TECHWR-L (2005). Careers>Writing>Legal
#23467
Technical Documentation Goes Electronic: New Media Create New Problems for Technical Writers
It is not very helpful if we reject any responsibility, even if it would be covered by some laws dealing with product safety and product liability.
Thiele, Ulrich. TC-FORUM (1999). Design>Multimedia>Legal
#24461
Text and Action: The Operator's Manual in Context and in Court 
The rhetorical process by which the immense body of expert knowledge is transformed into subsequent human action is a question of importance.
Paradis, James. WAC Clearinghouse (1991). Articles>Documentation>Legal
#24443
Texts in Oral Context: The "Transmission" of Jury Instructions in an Indiana Trial
Modern rhetorical scholars exhibit a curious reluctance to examine legal texts.
Stygall, Gail. WAC Clearinghouse (1991). Articles>Rhetoric>Legal
#13982
Untangling the Law: Verbal Design in Legal Argument
“The law is a seamless web,” law professors are fond of reminding their students. The lightest touch on any strand will send vibrations through the entire intricate structure. Every legal issue, rule, and theory is integrally connected; thus attention to any part affects the whole. Ironically, the metaphor’s appropriateness extends beyond this initial image since the slightest vibrations running through even the most beautiful web will alert the waiting spider—the beauty disguises a deadly trap.
Woolever, Kristin R. JAC (1986). Articles>Rhetoric>Legal
#27398
Usability Professionals’ Association Urges Consideration of Plain Language
The Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) wishes to express its support for plain language.
Usability Professionals Association (2006). Articles>Usability>Legal>Minimalism
#27056
Usable Regulations: Legislation Pending in U.S. Congress
On March 1, 2006, witnesses testified before the House Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs. Their testimony supported what plain language and usability experts have long known: Clear, concise, easy to understand regulations will save the government (and taxpayers) time and money.
Haller, Thom. Usability Professionals Association (2006). Articles>Usability>Legal>Minimalism
#30843
Waiver Culture: The Unintended Consequence of Ethics Compliance 
The passage of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) spawned a series of compliance and ethics programs--the revised Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations known as the Thompson Memo (Thompson, 2003), the revised Federal Sentencing Guidelines that included the Effective Compliance and Ethics Program and the corporate 'culpability score' (U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2004), and another revision of the Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations now known as the McNulty Memo (McNulty, 2006). These programs were meant to shift business toward an 'organizational culture that encourages ethical conduct and a commitment to compliance with the law' (U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2007). These developments spurred human resource departments and legal counsel to draft new workplace policies to embrace, implement, and monitor compliance programs. Consequently, there was a dramatic increase in the number of businesses with some kind of ethics training: from 44% in pre-guideline 1987 up to 92% in post-guideline 2005 (Berenbeim, 2006). Because compliance with the McNulty Memo and Federal Sentencing Guidelines can substantially reduce an organization's sentence of improper conduct or cause the government not to prosecute (Berenbeim, 2006), an organization under investigation could turn to its newly minted compliance programs and its cooperation as a shield. But these federal guidelines lacked a clear definition of an organization's 'cooperation' and whether a lack of cooperation could be viewed as obstruction of justice and thereby increase punishment of that organization.
Genova, Gina L. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Legal>Ethics
#22092
What is the Purpose of a CMS Tender?
There are a number of processes used to select and purchase a content management system (CMS). Many of these involve the creation of a tender document. Beyond this core goal, it is worth reviewing what the purpose of a CMS tender is.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Articles>Content Management>Legal>Contracts
#31025
Highlights the major legal cases and illustrates how each case set up a rhetorical construct that allowed the next case to happen, leaving us where we are now. Highlights the provisions of the DMCA and how that law might impact our composing and publication practices.
Rife, Martine Courant. Kairos (2006). Articles>Intellectual Property>Legal>Writing
#24145
Working as an Independent Contractor
Working for yourself can be a blessing and a curse. Independent contractors ('ICs') enjoy more freedom and control over their work than employees do -- and they can earn more money, too. But they also have to contend with deadbeat clients, self-employment taxes and the higher cost of doing business on their own.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2002). Careers>Freelance>Legal>Contracts
#21065
Yale Journal of Law and Technology
The Yale Journal of Law and Technology (YJoLT) is the first law review in the world to offer its readership a cutting-edge dynamic environment in which to acquire and produce knowledge about the interface between law and technology. Formerly the Yale Symposium on Law & Technology, the Journal not only publishes lectures and written pieces by the diverse and distinguished guests of Yale Law School as well as other scholars, practitioners, and students, it also provides a forum for a robust community discussion of the issues raised in its published pieces.
#33326
eDiscovery: A Company's Worst Nightmare
EDiscovery: You don't want it to happen. Borne of the term discovery, used by lawyers to describe collecting evidence, electronic discovery comes about because of a possible violation in regulatory compliance. Whatis.com defines it as "to any process in which electronic data is sought, located, secured, and searched with the intent of using it as evidence in a civil or criminal legal case."
Tim Rosa Associates (2008). Articles>Legal>Policies and Procedures
#33626
The RIAA Succeeds Where the Cypherpunks Failed
The RIAA is succeeding where the Cypherpunks failed, convincing users to trade a broad but penetrable privacy for unbreakable anonymity under their personal control. In contrast to the Cypherpunks "eat your peas" approach, touting encryption as a first-order service users should work to embrace, encryption is now becoming a background feature of collaborative workspaces. Because encryption is becoming something that must run in the background, there is now an incentive to make its adoption as easy and transparent to the user as possible. It's too early to say how widely casual encryption use will spread, but it isn't too early to see that the shift is both profound and irreversible.
Shirky, Clay. Shirky.com (2003). Articles>Legal>Security
#33813
BlockShopper v. Jones Day: The Right of Web Sites to Link
Cases that have addressed links and copyright dealt with the permissibility of "deep linking"—linking to a page other than the home page—which, of course, is indeed permitted. Ticketmaster famously lost a lawsuit against Tickets.com about just this. But that case was about copyright infringement; by making a trademark claim instead, Jones Day opened up another legal avenue.
Davis, Wendy. Slate (2009). Articles>Web Design>Legal>Hypertext
#33898
The Impact of XML on Contract Law and Contract Litigation
It is unclear how adoption of Web services contracting systems based on XML standards will affect the frequency of litigated contract disputes among businesses. During the more than 20 years that business-to-business EDI contracting systems have been in use, there have been no reported cases of litigated contract disputes involving EDI contracts. By contrast, there have been many litigated disputes involving business-to-consumer contracts formed through the use of clickwrap and browsewrap Internet interfaces that have been in use for only a decade. B2B EDI contracts are usually formed between businesses that are already in a long-term trading partner relationship, and the high initial investment required to use EDI may provide additional incentives to resolve disputes informally. Businesses without long-term relationships should be able to use B2B XML contract technologies, and the absence of a relationship of trust may make it more difficult to resolve disputes informally when they arise. B2B XML contracts should still have a lower rate of litigation than B2C Internet contracts, however, because most businesses prefer arbitration to litigation.
Winn, Jane. IDEAlliance (2005). Articles>Legal>Contracts>XML
#33992
Preparing and Publishing Legislation using XML
Many governments are moving to using XML for drafting and publishing legislation. SAIC has worked with a number of jurisdictions to facilitate the automation of legislative drafting and publication processes using XML.
Arnold-Moore, Timothy. XML 2006 (2006). Articles>Legal>Government>XML
#34288
Free Web Tools for the Way You Work
While law firm IT spending frequently flattens out in tough economic times, that doesn't mean you or your colleagues have to restrict yourselves to using the same technology. A host of free Web applications are surprisingly effective in helping law firms from solo practitioners to large firm in-house PR and marketing staff, stay on top of the game. The trick is knowing which tools out there are worth your time. Here are the applications that made our top-24 list.
Legal Technology (2009). Articles>Legal>Software
#34497
The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) took effect on January 1, 2009. The ADAAA, which was signed by President Bush on September 25, 2008, is intended to restore Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provisions that had been eroded by a series of Supreme Court decisions.
Trapp, Greg. National Federation of the Blind (2009). Articles>Accessibility>Legal>United States
#34550
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation
This introduction to legal citation is focused on the forms of citation used in professional practice rather than those used in journal publication. It aims to identify the more important points on which there is divergence between the rules set out in two common manuals and evolving usage reflected in legal memoranda and briefs prepared by practicing lawyers.
Martin, Peter W. Cornell University (2007). Reference>Style Guides>Legal
