Law-Related Resources on the Internet and Elsewhere (02 of 12)
Erik J. Heels
Archive-name: law/net-resources/part02
Version: 6.0
Chapter 0. Introduction to The Legal List.
This chapter gives an overview of The Legal List and of the Internet.
0.1. About This Book - What is The Legal List?
The Legal List is the short, historical, name of this book, The Legal
List: Internet Desk Reference. (The history of my self-published version
is briefly described below.) The purpose of The Legal List is to provide
a consolidated list of all of the law-related resources available on the
Internet and elsewhere. There are only two requirements for a resource
to be listed in The Legal List: 1) it must be law-related, and 2) it
must be on the Internet. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule.
First, since The Legal List itself is a law-related resource on the
Internet, I list a few resources that do not contain any Internet
resource (e.g. only a USPS mailing address may be provided). Second, a
few bulletin board systems (BBSs) are included. Most BBSs are accessible
only via telephone, but more and more are becoming accessible via the
Internet as well. Third, most of the commercial online services (such as
Prodigy and America Online) have law-related resources that are only
accessible to service subscribers.
The Legal List was originally created in the summer of 1992 as I was
preparing to enter the University of Maine School of Law. Before I
started law school, I wanted to compile a list of law-related resources
that I could use as a legal research guide. I've been on the Internet
since 1984, when I was was a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), and, through the years, I have made a habit of jotting
down noteworthy Internet-accessible resources. In the summer of 1992,
there were few law-related resources on the Internet, and there was no
comprehensive listing of these resources. With my personal list of
noteworthy Internet-accessible resources as a starting point, I started
to compile a separate list of law-related Internet-accessible resources.
I called this list my legal list. As I discussed with others what I had
been doing, they began to request copies of my list. In August, 1992, I
sent the first version of The Legal List via electronic mail (e-mail) to
those who had requested it. Since then, The Legal List has been updated
approximately every six months. What started as a relatively short list
for my own use has grown into the relatively large book you are now
reading.
Today, The Legal List--or often TLL for short--is available as a
paperback book and as an ASCII text-only file. Details of how to get The
Legal List are included in Section 0.1.3. As the print-and-pay portion
of the copyright notice indicates, The Legal List is free on the
Internet, but it costs if you print it. I believe that this arrangement
is consistent with the spirit of providing free information on the
Internet, while at the same time allowing for a reasonable compensation
from those who want the value-added benefit of having a paper copy of
The Legal List. I use both the paperback version and the ASCII text-only
version of The Legal List. If I want to find something in the ASCII
text-only version, I open the file with my word-processing software and
do a key-word search. With the paperback version, I look in the index.
0.1.1. Disclaimer.
I am committed to providing high-quality information, and as such, I
have tried to verify all of the information in The Legal List. If I have
not been able to verify a resource, I have indicated so. The appearance
of any resource in The Legal List does not constitute endorsement of
approval of the resource by the author, editors, and publisher of The
Legal List. The author, editor, and publisher of The Legal List have
made reasonable efforts to provide correct information, but the author,
editor, and publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information
in The Legal List. Updates, additions, and corrections to The Legal List
should be sent to legal...@lcp.com.
0.1.2. Organization of The Legal List.
The Legal List is primarily organized by the sponsoring organization of
the law-related resource. There are three main categories of sponsors:
government organizations (Chapter 2), educational institutions (Chapter
3), and commercial organizations (Chapter 4). Resources that are
sponsored primarily by an individual, and not by the organization for
which the individual works, are included in Chapter 4, because it is
often difficult to distinguish the sole proprietor from the hobbyist.
Certain typographical conventions should also be pointed out. Items that
should be interpreted are listed in italics. For example, If I were
instructed to type your name, I would type Erik J. Heels. Uniform
Resource Locators (URLs) are listed for each Internet resource. I have
followed the draft RFC standard dated 03/94, which is available via
anonymous FTP from internic.net as /ftp/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-uri-
url-03.txt. The URL for the URL draft standard is
URL: ftp://internic.net/ftp/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-uri-url-03.txt
In general, the URL will be in the format of connection-
method://machine/path. In the above example, the connection-method is
FTP, the machine is internic.net, and the path is /ftp/internet-
drafts/draft-ietf-uri-url-03.txt. In this example, the final part of the
path name contains the file name, draft-ietf-uri-url-03.txt, but not all
URLs contain file names.
The following is a chapter summary of The Legal List:
Chapter 1. Talk, Talk, Talk. This chapter describes law-related listserv
lists, Usenet newsgroups, BBSs, and online services. Listserv lists are
like magazines in that one can subscribe and unsubscribe. There are
lists for a wide range of law-related interests such as intellectual
property (CNI-Copyright), fathers rights (FREE-L), and issues of
interest to law students (LawSch-L). Usenet is the news network that is
intertwined with, but independent from, the Internet.
Chapter 2. Government Organizations. This chapter describes law-related
resources made available by US government organizations. An organization
in this chapter would most likely have a domain name ending in .gov
(government). This chapter is divided into two sub-sections: 1) US
Federal Government Organizations and 2) US State Government
Organizations.
Chapter 3. Educational Institutions. This chapter describes law-related
resources made available by US educational institutions. An organization
in this chapter would most likely have a domain name ending in .edu
(education). This chapter is divided into two sub-sections: 1) US law
schools, 2) other US educational institutions.
Chapter 4. Corporations and Organizations. This chapter describes law-
related resources made available by for-profit, nonprofit, and not-for-
profit corporations and organizations. An organization in this chapter
would most likely have a domain name ending in .com (commercial) or .org
(organization). Law firms are listed separately--sorted by the state (or
country) of their main office. This chapter also includes resources
primarily made available by individuals rather than by an organizations,
governments, or educational institutions.
Chapter 5. Non-US Resources. This chapter describes law-related
resources made available by non-US organizations, governments, and
educational institutions including those made available by the United
Nations.
Appendix A. More About the Internet. This appendix contains, for
example, information about Internet account and domain providers.
0.1.3. How to Get Paperback and Electronic Copies of The Legal
List.
Listserv Lists
There are two listserv lists available:
1) Full text delivery of The Legal List - legal-list.
The Legal List is available via e-mail via the listserv list legal-
li...@lcp.com.
To subscribe to legal-list, send a message with subscribe legal-list
your name in the body of the message to the following address.
URL: mailto:list...@lcp.com
The next version of The Legal List (as well as other announcements) will
be mailed to those who subscribe. I always like to hear where you
learned about The Legal List, so if you also include this information in
the body of the message, I would greatly appreciate it!
To cancel your subscription to legal-list, send a message with
unsubscribe legal-list in the body of the message to the following
address.
URL: mailto:list...@lcp.com
2) Announcements only - TLL-announce.
If you wish receive only announcements about the next version of The
Legal List, send a message with subscribe TLL-announce your name in the
body of the message to the following address.
URL: mailto:list...@lcp.com
TLL-announce subscribes will receive all of the announcements that
legal-list subscribers receive, but TLL-announce subscribers will not
receive the next version of The Legal List via e-mail. I always like to
hear where you learned about The Legal List, so if you also include this
information in the body of the message, I would greatly appreciate it!
To cancel your subscription to TLL-announce, send a message with
unsubscribe TLL-announce in the body of the message to the following
address.
URL: mailto:list...@lcp.com
Internet Servers (FTP, Gopher, and WWW).
The Legal List is available via anonymous FTP, Gopher, and WWW:
URL: ftp://ftp.lcp.com/pub/LegalList/legallist.txt
URL: gopher://gopher.lcp.com
URL: http://www.lcp.com
The InterNIC.
The Legal List is one of many resources officially documented by the
InterNIC Directory and Database Services maintained by the NSF Network
Systems Center (NNSC) under a contract with AT&T. The Internet Resource
Guide (IRG) (formerly compiled and maintained by BBN, Inc., for the
NNSC) has been moved to the Directory of Directories provided by the
InterNIC Directory and Database Services. In previous versions of The
Legal List, I wrote [t]he [IRG] is invaluable, and everyone with a
serious interest in the Internet should maintain a copy. The NNSC's
stated goal is to expose users to those facilities that will help them
do their work better. (Internet Resource Guide, Introduction, dated 16
Apr 90.) I wholeheartedly agree with this goal. Although the IRG in its
1990-form is being discontinued, the entries have been incorporated into
the NNSC's new Directory of Directories. The Directory of Directories
should prove to be an invaluable resource.
For more information, contact:
The InterNIC Directory and Database Services Administrator
AT&T
5000 Hadley Road Room 1B13
South Plainfield, NJ 07080
Phone: 1-800-862-0677
E-mail: ad...@ds.internic.net
URL: mailto:ad...@ds.internic.net
URL: gopher://gopher.internic.net/
URL: http://www.internic.net/
Usenet FAQ.
The Legal List is periodically posted as a FAQ (a file of Frequently-
Asked Questions) to misc.legal, misc.legal.computing, misc.answers, and
news.answers. It is also available (in about 10 parts) via e-mail and
anonymous FTP from MIT's Usenet archives. To obtain a copy via e-mail
from MIT, send a message with the following lines in it (there may be
more than 10 parts) to mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu:
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part1
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part2
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part3
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part4
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part5
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part6
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part7
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part8
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part9
send usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-resources/part10
quit
URL: mailto:mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu
URL: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/law/net-
resources/
Paperback Copies.
Paperback copies of The Legal List are available from Lawyers
Cooperative Publishing. The paperback copies are superior in quality to
the text-only versions distributed on the Internet (e.g. multiple fonts
are used). The price for each copy is $29.95. The shipping and handling
for each copy is $3.00 US, $4.00 Canada or Mexico, and $10.00 for all
other countries. To receive a paperback copy of The Legal List, please
send, e-mail, or fax a purchase order; or send a check or money order
payable to Lawyers Cooperative Publishing to:
Lawyers Cooperative Publishing
Attn: The Legal List
Aqueduct Building
Rochester, NY 14694
USA
Phone: 1-800-254-5274
Fax: 1-800-741-1414
E-mail: TLL-o...@lcp.com
Please allow one to two weeks for delivery via United States Postal
Services mail.
Updates, Additions, and Corrections.
Updates, additions, and corrections to The Legal List should be sent to
legal-list@.lcp.com.
URL: mailto:legal...@lcp.com
0.2. About the Internet - A Brief Primer on the Internet.
In the last few years, the Internet has become more user-friendly.
Today, it can be a practical tool for the legal professional.
0.2.1. What Is the Internet?
A computer network is simply two or more computers connected by wires.
Computer networks allow interconnected users to share printers and
files. When one network is connected with another, a internet (lowercase
i) is formed. The Internet (uppercase I) is the international network of
interconnected computer networks. Buzzwords like the information
superhighway, cyberspace, and the national information infrastructure,
which may be nicknames for the Internet or planned government or
industry initiatives, are not helpful to understanding what the Internet
is. Estimates of the number of individuals on the Internet vary widely,
but it is safe to say there there are probably 50 million users
worldwide. This makes the Internet the worlds second-largest
communication network, after the telephone network.
The Internet and the telephone network are not mutually-exclusive--many
of the computers on the Internet are connected by various types of phone
lines. Like the telephone network, it matters less to the end user how
the technology works, and more how to use the technology. A notable
difference between the Internet and the telephone network is that
electronic mail (e-mail) sent to users outside of ones home country
typically costs the same (at least for the end user) as e-mail sent to
users within ones home country. As a result, individuals from all over
the world can meet on the Internet in virtual communities, communities
whose existence is fueled by low-cost Internet access.
Like any other community, the Internet has rules of etiquette called
netiquette. A quick summary of the rules of etiquette: Never say
anything in an e-mail message (or a news posting) that you wouldn't say
to the recipients face or that you wouldn't say in a long-distance phone
call (i.e. realize that some users pay for incoming e-mail). The power
to send e-mail--essentially instantly--to anyone in the world is great,
and it should be understood.
0.2.2. Internet History - From Research to Prime Time.
The Internet grew out ARPAnet (formed in 1969 as a product of the
Advanced Research Project Agency), a network of government computers
connected so that they could exchange information and use each others
programs. ARPAnet was later discontinued, but other networks (primarily
government and educational) had been formed and interconnected, and the
resulting network of networks has come to be known as the Internet. The
networks that are part of the Internet speak the same language, the
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) protocols. Some
of the computers on these networks themselves use the TCP/IP protocols
(most notably UNIX-based computers) while others (for example, the
computers that comprise the commercial online services such as
CompuServe, America Online, and Delphi; as well as those computers on
BITNET and UUCP networks) do not but are still able to use some TCP/IP
protocols via gateways.
In 1992, two significant events occurred. First, many of the
restrictions on commercial use of the Internet were relaxed. Much of the
Internet's traffic shifted from the National Science Foundations NSFNet
backbone to commercial networks (such as the Commercial Internet
Exchange, CIX). Second, and perhaps more significantly, we had a vice
presidential candidate who had heard of the Internet--and who was
interested in its potential. These two events resulted in a tremendous
amount of coverage of the Internet in the popular press. In fact in
1993, there were more references to the Internet in The New York Times
than in all previous years combined! And the trend is continuing.
0.2.3. How to Get On the Internet.
As more people get on the Internet, fewer people will be able to ignore
the Internet. Do you remember when you added your fax number to your
business card? It may not be long until you add your Internet e-mail
address as well. For those lawyers who want to communicate with their
clients via the Internet (because there surely will be clients who want
to do so) or who want to shape the future of the law of the Internet,
now is the time to get on. Heres how.
0.2.3.1. Commercial Online Services.
The quickest way to get on the Internet is to get an account on one of
the commercial online services. Currently, the five largest national
commercial online services are Prodigy, CompuServe, America Online,
GEnie, and Delphi. Also, there are online services tailored specifically
for the legal professional (such as Lexis Counsel Connect and Law
Journal Extra). All of these services offer Internet e-mail, and several
offer other Internet tools (discussed further below). Also, many offer
free trial periods and home-access software (much like the Lexis and
Westlaw software that you may already have). Call and ask for details
(see the Appendix for addresses and phone numbers of commercial online
services). For about $10-20 per month, you can ask questions and
electronically look over peoples shoulders to learn about the Internet.
0.2.3.2. Reading about the Internet.
Once you are on the Internet, it is relatively easy to find out more
about the Internet itself. Your Internet provider most likely has
Internet-related information available online.
One source of information about the Internet available from numerous
sites on the Internet is the Request For Comments (RFCs). The RFCs were
originally electronic documents that were circulated for comments and
that described a new protocol that was needed to help the computers
connected to the Internet work together more effectively. Today, these
documents are still referred to as RFCs because each is open for comment
and subject change as the Internet evolves.
Certain RFCs have remained unchanged for long periods of time and have
become Internet standards. In addition to documenting standard
protocols, the RFCs document the history of the Internet since 1969 and
provide help and information for new Internet users.
To receive introductory information on the Internet via e-mail, send a
message with document-by-name rfc1594 in the body of the message to
mail...@ds.internic.net. You will receive RFC number 1594, Questions
and Answers for New Internet Users. To receive an index of RFCs (there
are about 1,800), include document-by-name rfc-index in the text of your
message. The RFCs can be a road map (or a treasure map) for you if you
enjoy exploring in this manner.
If you'd rather have books by your side before you get on the Internet,
you might want to get Brendan P. Kehoe's Zen and the Art of the
Internet: A Beginners Guide to the Internet (Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ), which is a brief, well-written, easy-to-read overview of
the Internet. Also, you might want to pick up a copy of Ed Krol's The
Whole Internet Users Guide and Catalog, Second Edition (O'Reilly &
Associates, Inc., Sabastopol, CA), which is a comprehensive and clear
guide to the Internet and is considered essential for new Internet
users. Finally to learn more about netiquette, read Virginia Shea's
Netiquette (Albion Books, San Francisco, CA), which documents the
formerly-unwritten rules of Internet etiquette.
0.2.3.3. Beyond Dial-In Accounts.
Consider registering your own Internet domain name (the part of an e-
mail address to the right of the @ sign), rather than just having an
individual account (the part of an e-mail address to the left of the @
sign) on somebody else's machine. This is more expensive than simply
purchasing an account with a commercial online service, but there are
inexpensive options (such as asynchronous dial-up PPP (Point to Point
Protocol) and UUCP (Unix to Unix Copy Protocol) accounts), and you will
gain flexibility and control. For example, you could set up your own FTP
server, and your e-mail address would be your...@your-company.com
rather than your...@somewhere-else.com. See the Appendix for a listing
of some Internet domain providers.
0.2.4. A Brief Primer on Some Internet Tools.
There are five Internet tools that you may want to use in your research:
e-mail, FTP, Gopher, WWW, and WAIS. (Also, you may want to try a local
BBS.) There is nothing magic about these tools--they are simply computer
programs (like WordPerfect) that implement standard sets of rules,
called protocols. (For example, using control-V for paste is a protocol
on Macintosh computer systems.) No matter what computer you use (whether
a Macintosh, a DOS-based computer, minicomputer, or mainframe computer)
these tools should all work essentially the same way.
0.2.4.1. Electronic Mail (E-mail) Overview.
E-mail is a tool that allows one user on the Internet to send a message
to another user on the Internet. An e-mail message may contain text or
pictures and sound encoded as text, but most often it is plain text. The
various e-mail programs are the most widely used of the Internet tools,
since the Internet is primarily used for communication between users.
Users can be human or can be automated e-mail programs. Some of these
automated programs can send your e-mail message to a group of
individuals interested in the same type of information. By
redistributing your e-mail message in this way, the automated e-mail
program creates a virtual community--a discussion group. The listserv
family of automated programs allows individuals to subscribe to various
lists (or discussion groups). The listserv program handles all the
administrative tasks (adding/deleting individuals from the subscription
list; redistributing e-mail to all of the lists subscribers), leaving
individual subscribers free to discuss substantive issues. Ill discuss
some notable law-related listserv lists in Chapter 1.
When people write a letter and send it from Maine to Finland via the
United States Postal Services (USPS), they know that the to and from
addresses must be written in a certain place, that mail may be returned
if there is a problem, and that mail may be disposed of after sitting
idly on the shelf of the post office (if, for example, both addresses
are illegible). Internet e-mail works in much the same way. Some of the
TCP/IP protocols deal with how to send, return, and dispose of e-mail.
The advantages of Internet e-mail over USPS mail and telephone calls are
numerous. Unlike with USPS mail, you do not have to find a stamp and
drive to the nearest mailbox to send Internet e-mail. And unlike the
telephone, Internet e-mail is never (well, almost never) busy. One
winter, I planned a ski trip in Maine entirely by e-mail. I was able to
make sure that each person got the same information, I could keep track
of RSVPs, and I did not have to worry about making phone calls.
0.2.4.2. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Overview.
FTP is a tool that allows users on one computer (the local computer) to
connect to another computer (the remote computer) for the limited
purpose of copying files from (and sometimes to) the remote computer. A
computer that is set up to accept incoming FTP requests from another
computer is called an FTP server. Usually, the administrators of an FTP
server will copy certain files to a public directory on the FTP server.
In this way, information is made available to the Internet community. An
FTP server is like a bulletin board. The owner of the FTP server can add
and delete files from the public directory on the server server just as
notices can be physically tacked to (and removed from) a bulletin board.
0.2.4.2.1. FTPMail (FTP via E-mail).
Many resources are available via anonymous FTP. If you do not have
access to FTP, but you do have access to e-mail, send a message with
help in the body of the message to the following address.
URL: mailto:ftp...@decwrl.dec.com
0.2.4.2.2. FTPMail Example.
For example, to get The Legal List via e-mail from the FTPMail service,
send a message with the following text in the body of the message to the
following address. The files will be e-mailed to you in a day or so.
connect ftp.lcp.com
ascii
get /pub/LegalList/legallist.txt
quit
URL: mailto:ftp...@decwrl.dec.com
0.2.4.3. Gopher Overview.
Gopher is named for the mascot of the University of Minnesota, where it
was developed. Its a menu-driven program, much like an ATM machine at a
bank. The Gopher server--a computer set up to run the program--is set up
with a main menu and a series of submenus. When you select a particular
menu item, you can view documents, run other Internet programs, or
connect to another Gopher server. (By allowing one Gopher server to
connect to another, Gopher allows users to look at menus and submenus
from Gopher servers all over the world--so once you have connected to
one Gopher server, you can connect to them all.) When you connect to
another Gopher server, the Gopher program on your local computer
connects to the Gopher program on the remote computer just long enough
to copy the menu from the remote computer. This allows many Internet
users to look at a particular Gopher menu at a given time. In this way,
using the Gopher program is much like signing a book out of the library
one page at a time--rather than tying up the pages that others may be
waiting for. A well-organized Gopher server can make finding information
on the Internet much easier.
Various client versions of Gopher software are available via anonymous
FTP:
URL: ftp://boombox.micro.umn.edu/pub/gopher/
Using a local client is faster, but there are also a number of public
Telnet login sites available:
URL: telnet://gop...@consultant.micro.umn.edu (North America)
URL: telnet://gop...@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (North America)
URL: telnet://pa...@panda.uiowa.edu (North America)
URL: telnet://gop...@gopher.msu.edu (North America)
URL: telnet://gop...@gopher.sunet.se (Europe)
URL: telnet://in...@info.anu.edu.au (Australia)
URL: telnet://gop...@gopher.sunet.se (Sweden)
URL: telnet://gop...@tolten.puc.cl (South America)
URL: telnet://gop...@ecnet.ec (Ecuador)
URL: telnet://gop...@gan.ncc.go.jp (Japan)
For more information, contact the Gopher software developers:
Internet Gopher Developers
100 Union St. SE #190
Minneapolis, MN 55455
URL: mailto:gop...@boombox.micro.umn.edu
0.2.4.3.1. GopherMail (Gopher via E-mail).
Gopher is accessible via e-mail with GopherMail. To use GopherMail, send
a message with help as the subject of the message to one of the
following GopherMail servers (try to use a site near you).
URL: mailto:gophe...@forestry.umn.edu (USA)
URL: mailto:gophe...@calvin.edu (USA)
URL: mailto:gop...@earn.net (France)
URL: mailto:gophe...@ncc.go.jp (Japan)
URL: mailto:gop...@dsv.su.se (Sweden)
URL: mailto:gop...@earn.net (Europe)
0.2.4.3.2. VERONICA.
VERONICA (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized
Archives) is to GopherSpace what Archie, a program developed by the
McGill School of Computer Science, is to the Internet's anonymous FTP
archives. (For more information on Archie, see The Internet Resource
Guide/Directory of Directories (see Section 0.1.3). VERONICA offers a
keyword search of most of the Gopher-server menu titles in the world. To
try VERONICA, select it from the Other Gophers menu on the University of
Minnesota's Gopher server.
0.2.4.4. World-Wide Web (WWW) Overview.
WWW is a distributed hypertext tool. If you have ever used HyperCard on
the Macintosh or the help feature on Microsoft Windows, then you have
used a hypertext system. More accurately, WWW (which was developed by
CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics) is a hyperMEDIA
program because graphics and sound--in addition to text--can be
displayed. A WWW server (a computer set up to run the WWW program) is
like a deck of cards--you can skip from one location to another via
links. Unlike Gopher, which presents you with a series of menu items,
WWW presents the user with documents. Each document, like the menus in
Gopher, can contain links, which often appear as bold or italicized
text. When you select a particular link, you can view documents, run
other Internet programs, or connect to another WWW server. The home page
for a WWW server is analogous to the main menu for a Gopher server.
To access the Web, you run a browser program that can read and retrieve
documents. Mosaic is the most popular WWW browser program. The browsers
can access information via/from FTP, Telnet, Usenet, Gopher, WAIS, and
others.
The following are some of the browsers accessible by Telnet (try to use
sites near you):
URL: telnet://w...@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu (US)
URL: telnet://w...@www.njit.edu (US)
URL: telnet://info.cern.ch (Switzerland)
URL: telnet://w...@vms.huji.ac.il (Israel)
URL: telnet://sun.uakom.cs (Slovakia)
URL: telnet://info.funet.fi (Finland)
0.2.4.5. Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) Overview.
WAIS, the Wide Area Information Servers, is a networked full text
information retrieval system developed by Thinking Machines, Apple
Computer, and Dow Jones. WAIS currently uses TCP/IP to connect client
applications to information servers. Client applications are able to
retrieve text or multimedia documents stored on the servers. Client
applications request documents using keywords. Servers search a full
text index for the documents and return a list of documents containing
the keyword. The client may then request the server to send a copy of
any of the documents found. The WAIS software distribution is available
via anonymous FTP:
If you are in Europe try the following first:
URL: ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/networking/services/wais/
The easiest way to get started (if you do not have access to a WAIS
client) is to try the WAIS at Thinking Machines:
URL: telnet://wa...@quake.think.com
0.2.4.5.1. WAISmail (WAIS via E-mail).
If you do not have access to WAIS but you do have access to e-mail, you
might want to try WAISmail, a WAIS via e-mail program. For more
information on WAISmail, send a message with help as the subject of the
message to the following address.
URL: mailto:WAIS...@Think.COM
With WAISmail, you can search WAIS sources and retrieve documents
identified by your searches. Here is how the search and retrieve
commands work:
search [<source-name>|<source-name> <source-name> ...] {keywords...}
Where <source-name> is a source name as found in the directory of
servers (with or without the .src ending). If you use more than one
source name and enclose them in quotes (as above), WAISmail will search
both of the sources. If you try to search a nonexistent source, WAISmail
will e-mail a list of sources to you. The following are some law-related
WAIS sources that you may want to try:
bit.listserv.pacs-l.src
bush-speeches.src
clinton-speechess.src
computers-freedom-and-privacy.src
cpsr.src
directory-of-servers.src
eff-talk.src
ERIC-archive.src
Eric-Digests.src
eric-digests.src
Health-Security-Act.src
INFO.src
Internet-user-glossary.src
nafta.src
NASA-directory-of-servers.src
National-Performance-Review.src
news.answers-faqs.src
npr-library.src
OSHA-Act.src
OSHA-Field-Manual.src
OSHA-Preamble.src
OSHA-Standards.src
OSHA-Tech-Manual.src
patent.src
rfcs.src
SGML.src
UNESCO-DARE-Social-Science-Institutes.src
US-Budget-1993.src
US-Congress-Phone-Fax.src
US-State-Department-Travel-Advisories.src
USHOUSE_congress_info.src
Wests-Legal-Directory.src
White-House-Papers.src
world-factbook.src
world-factbook93.src
zipcodes.src
retrieve <DOCID>
Where <DOCID> is as returned by your search.
0.2.4.6. Bulletin Board System (BBS) Overview.
There are approximately 50,000 BBSs nationwide, many of which are law-
related. I have included only the essential information about these BBSs
in Chapter 1, namely the phone number to call and a contact for more
information. Most of the BBSs run 24 hours per day, many charge a fee,
many are accessible at various baud rates. Your best bet is to read the
introductory information carefully for each BBS.
0.2.5. Practical Uses of the Internet.
The Internet offers a unique duality for the legal professional:
communication and publication.
0.2.5.1. Communication via E-mail.
Internet e-mail is nearly instantaneous, never (well, almost never)
busy, and as easy as writing a letter. The recipient of an e-mail
message can return (by cutting and pasting) portions of the senders
original e-mail message with his/her response to provide the necessary
context that is often lost in US mail or in phone messages.
The power of the Internet as a means of communication cannot be
understated. Last year, I sent about 10,000 e-mail messages, and I
received about the same amount. This book was submitted via Internet e-
mail. My clients, friends, and family are all on the Internet, and e-
mail makes it easier for me to keep in touch with all of them.
0.2.5.2. Publication/Research via Internet Servers.
As a means of publication, the Internet can be used for advertising,
research, etc. Unlike Internet e-mail, which is primarily two-way
communication, Internet publication (via FTP, Gopher, and WWW servers)
is primarily one-way communication--from the publisher to the Internet
community. The Internet publisher (which includes anybody who chooses to
make information available on the Internet) can establish an FTP server,
a Gopher server, and/or a World-Wide Web server. Organizations that are
not yet prepared to respond to information requests via e-mail can still
maintain a significant Internet presence by establishing such servers.
On the Internet one can find primary law (cases, statutes, and
treaties), secondary law (law review articles and the like), and
tertiary law (discussion groups, unpublished manuscripts and the like).
The key players in publishing law-related information on the Internet
are law schools and government institutions. Since the Internet is a
network of networks, with each network independently owned and operated,
some of the information is easier to get than other. Ultimately, if the
case, the statute, or the law review article that the Internet user
seeks exists on the Internet, it exists as a file on a hard disk (or
other storage medium) on a computer on a network somewhere on the
Internet. It may exist in more that one location, and one locations
version may be more up-to-date than anothers.
0.2.6. Who Else is on the Internet?
Despite the growing popularity of the Internet as a means for
communication, it has not yet achieved the same level of acceptance as
the post office, the telephone, or the fax machine. While law firms
regularly include postal addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers on
their business letters, and business cards, few include Internet
addresses. Even in the academic community, where Internet access has
been more common, the Internet hasn't risen to the level of the fax
machine. Of the top 40 US law schools, Case Western Reserve University
is the only school whose brochure specifically lists e-mail and WWW
server addresses.
0.2.7. The Future of the Internet - Not Just for Scientists
Anymore.
Formerly used exclusively by government, military, and research users,
the Internet is now being used by people in all lines of work. As more
people get on the Internet, fewer people will be able to ignore the
Internet. And as the Internet expands, there will be more legal issues
(intellectual property, privacy, and First Amendment issues to name a
few) to tackle.
The Internet's ability to convey key information about a law firm, law
school, or any organization is unique. As a means of communication, the
Internet can supplement the phone, fax, and paper mail. As a means of
publication, the Internet provides ways to research and advertise--as
well as to shop and have fun. In my opinion, letterhead, fax leaders,
business cards, and e-mail signatures--at least those for organizations-
-should all contain US Postal Service addresses, phone numbers, fax
numbers, and Internet addresses. Internet addresses can be either e-mail
addresses (for two-way communication) or Gopher and WWW server addresses
(for one-way publication). Law firms should be prepared to use all of
the generally accepted means of communication. Your clients may want to
have options. Like the fax machine, the Internet is here to stay.
--
|||| Erik J. Heels, Lawyers Cooperative Publishing he...@lcp.com
|||| c/o Counterpoint Publishing http://www.lcp.com
|||| 84 Sherman St. Fax: (617) 547-9064
|||| Cambridge, MA 02140 Phone: 1-800-998-4515 x3112