Legal Commentary

In Law Technology News' September cover story, "Safe Sky," Patrick Oot, general counsel of the Electronic Discovery Institute, details how corporate law departments can be at odds with the business side of their organizations over cloud computing. As online repositories become dirt cheap, they are more tempting to companies, especially for e-mail and messaging. (Hosted Exchange e-mail services now go for about $2.50 per month per person.)

But the move to the cloud increases risks that must be managed, from privacy to security to potential waivers of attorney-client privilege. And for companies that operate overseas, the problems become even more complicated, as organizations must comply with regulations that can vary from country to country.

Oot dives into some of the risks created and argues that the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act is already out-of-date and needs a revamp, quickly.