"Supreme Court approves rules requiring companies involved in federal litigation to produce e-mails"

Although the Internet has opended up the world to free international communication, there is a down side for those who send and receive emails at the office. I really think it’s a conspiracy by the US Post Office. They will be offering early retirement to tens of thousands of letter carriers as we utilize the Internet to save on postage and speed up delivery to business associates, friends and family.

All joking aside I found this on the Drudge Report today and have edited half of the report to satisy those who are troubled by my publication of entire articles.

There is a case to be made for personally utilizing office computers on company time that does impact productivity. Hmm. Does this mean that Larry must refrain from sending all of his emails to corporate offices vs home e-mail addresses?

New Rules Make Firms Track E-Mails, IMs

Dec 1, 12:26 AM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.

The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce “electronically stored information” as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial.

The change makes it more important for companies to know what electronic information they have and where. Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing the equivalent of “virtual shredding,” said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation.

James Wright, director of electronic discovery at Halliburton Co. (HAL) (HAL), said that large companies are likely to face higher costs from organizing their data to comply with the rules. In addition to e-mail, companies will need to know about things more difficult to track, like digital photos of work sites on employee cell phones and information on removable memory cards, he said.

Both federal and state courts have increasingly been requiring the production of relevant electronic documents during discovery, but the new rules codify the practice, legal experts said.The rules also require that lawyers provide information about where their clients’ electronic data is stored and how accessible it is much earlier in a lawsuit than was previously the case.

There are hundreds of “e-discovery vendors” and these businesses raked in approximately $1.6 billion in 2006, Wright said. That figure could double in 2007, he added.