Bill Moran wrote:
I'm curious, what problem does the disclaimer cause? I wrote the following TOS for my personal system: https://www.potentialtech.com/cms/node/9 Excerpt of the relevant part: "If you send me email, you are granting me the unrestricted right to use the contents of that email however I see fit, unless otherwise agreed in writing beforehand. You have no rights to the privacy of any email that you send me. If I feel the need, I will forward emails to authorities or make their contents publicly available. By sending me email you consent to this policy and agree that it overrides any disclaimers or policies that may exist elsewhere." I have no idea if that's legally binding or not, but I've talked to a few associates who have some experience in law, and they all argue that email disclaimers probably aren't legally binding anyway -- so the result is undefined.
No, it's not legally binding. Agreements are only binding if both parties agree, and someone sending you email has not consented to your statement. If I send you something with a copyright mark, you'd better respect it unless you have a signed agreement granting you rights. Federal law always wins. Disclaimers are bad for two reasons. First, they're powerless. Just because Acme Corp. attaches a disclaimer doesn't mean they've absolved themselves of responsibility for the actions of their employees. Second, they're insulting to the employees. It's a big red flag saying, "We, Acme Corp., hire clowns we don't trust, and THIS person may be one of them!" Craig
