Category Archives: Media

Media, Miscellaneous

Hold the Tiger!

Tony-the-tiger-dunks-hoh-1

I was going to refrain from commenting on the Tiger Woods fiasco, but…

If you have access to a PC, networked device, TV or radio – or if you happen to have been anywhere near a water cooler lately – you already know more than you ever wanted to about Tiger Woods' formerly-private-but-not-so-private-anymore antics.  I'm not going to bother including a link.

But, once again, we have someone essentially done in by electronic evidence; voice mail, text messages, etc.  All I keep thinking about is ten years from now, when his kids are older and will be listening to his voice mail messages, reading his text messages and being endlessly tormented at school.

Please…please…learn from his mistakes.  This is one time when you should state definitively, "I am not Tiger Woods."

eMail, Media, Metadata, Technology

N-B-C…(See Ya Real Soon…). A-L-G…

MM …gee, ya think maybe you overplayed your hand?  It wouldn’t be fair for me to make a prediction about the NBC/ALG spat without returning to tell you how it’s progressing so far (of course, had it not gone the way I expected, I probably wouldn’t return to tell you how it’s progressing so far).

As you’ll recall, I predicted that NBC’s version of the email message was probably the legitimate one, based on the behavior of the parties.  Since then, ALG has claimed to have a voice mail message of the offending NBC employee that bolsters their version of events.

Did ALG release the message headers of the email?  No.  Did they release the voice mail message?  No.  Do they plan to release either?  No.

Here are two posts on the subject; the first from Politico.com and the second from Scott W. Graves.  What do you think?

This event is a product of society’s attitude, “If it comports to my point of view, I accept it as gospel truth without vetting it.”  For the attorneys out there, I channel Ronald Reagan; “Trust, but verify.”

 

eMail, Media, Metadata, Technology

Somebody’s Gonna be in Trou-ble!!!

J0442223“This one is a little quirky because, based on my research, I’m somewhat uncomfortable with the plaintiff, however, it does well to illustrate
how a case can become a P.R. nightmare even before the defendant files an answer.”

That’s a quote from my September 4th post about the Toyota case.  This time it’s not a ‘case’ and the parties are NBC and ALG, but the P.R. nightmare is at hand.

We have two entities arguing over the true content of an email message.  ALG claims the message they received from NBC contains a racial slur while NBC denies it.  There’s no doubt that only one of the versions can be correct.  Regardless of the posturing going on, it’s simple; the message headers and metadata will easily establish whose telling the truth.

If I were a betting man, I’d suspect NBC’s version of the email is correct.  Why?  Because NBC is being quite forceful and citing a forensic examination.  What is ALG doing?  Claiming the message is on an office computer and they can’t get to it to provide message headers until Monday.

This is a classic example of the type of posturing you might see in a real case (in fact, I have seen it), and when it’s revealed which party is lying, somebody’s gonna be in trou-ble!  If it turns out ALG is the culprit, they will have already scored a P.R. hit by claiming that they – a right-wing group – have been slighted by NBC (also known as ‘the devil’ to their followers).  The debate will continue on in cyberspace long after the truth comes out.

My hint?  I’d never heard of ALG and I suspect neither had most people until now.  Remember the adage, “No press is bad press”…

Media, Miscellaneous

I have a Confession to Make…

J0438778 …I'm seeing another publication behind your back…

Oh sure, at first it was just a subtle glance on the coffee table or while waiting to catch a flight.  Soon I was taking it into the bathroom with me, then we went to bed together, and now…ok, I'll just come out and say it; we're seeing each other.

That's what these clandestine relationships are all about, but I feel secure enough to go public.  Some of you may have noticed that I added a link to California Lawyer magazine on the button bar.  The reason?  Harken back to my appointments at LegalTech last June.  One of the meetings was with the publisher of California Lawyer.  They'd been following this blog and offered me a job writing a monthly e-discovery column for their "Technicalities" section.

So, why didn't I say anything back then?  Well, writing for a magazine isn't like writing this blog – I have a boss named Ed (aka 'Editor').  If he didn't like my style of writing, he might fire me, so I figured it would be best to get a few columns under my belt first.  Now that I'm working on article #3, I figure it's safe to share this with you.  We operate two-to-three months behind, so my 1st article will publish in the September issue.

So, what in the world does today's graphic signify?  I've officially bitten off more than I can chew.  My goal is to post three times per week – and not to post garbage – and it's getting more and more difficult to "meat" that goal.  However, I intend to keep trying and will do my best.  But for now, it's back to the interrogatories…