TFB ACQUIRE CB BUSINESS SYSTEMS LEGAL
Technology for Business PLC (TFB) has acquired CB Business Systems (Legal) Ltd, one of Scotland's three remaining independent legal software suppliers. CB systems has a client base of approximately 150 firms running its Signet accounts software however in March this year it was announced that liquidators had stepped in to negotiate a rescue deal as the company was facing voluntary liquidation. The company will now trade under the TFB brand name.

UK TO GET NEW CYBER POLICE FORCE
The UK's Home Secretary Jack Straw has announced the creation of a new National Hi-Tech Crime Unit that will have specific responsibility for the investigation of computer-related crime, including financial offences - such as online fraud, hacking and related attacks of IT infrastructures and internet-based sex crimes. The unit will initially employ 40 officers and have a budget of £15 million over the next three years. The Home Secretary said it was vital that the police "keep ahead of the criminal".

MIDWARE EXTENDS POSTION IN AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND MARKET
New South Wales-based Midware Systems has extended its position in the Australia/New Zealand legal systems market with the acquisition of two other suppliers: Client Server Computing, which distributes the Worldox document management software and Chief Legal Officer products in the region, and Law Ledger Australia, which has about 400 sites running its own legal accounts software in Australia.

Midware managing director Mark Flack described the Law Ledger deal as "pure market rationalisation" but said the Client Server acquisition was a complementary move that would give Midware access to the corporate inhouse legal department market.

YOU CAN GO TO ICANN
The internet regulatory body ICANN holds its next round of meetings on the 1st to 4th June in Stockholm, Sweden. The meetings are free to attend and open to any interested person - ICANN has always encouraged a broad participation in its "bottom-up consensus development process". A pre-registration for attendees is available by filling out the form at http://ecl.flashcommerce.com/turl/01/04/16/035500

Given the current controversy surrounding some of ICANN's recent proposals - the deal with Verisign/NSI and its apparent plan to strip many dot ORG web sites of their domain names, this is one meeting that may be worth attending.

ADOBE TO PUT PDF ON THE PALM TOP
Adobe Adobe Systems has announced a public beta version of its Acrobat Reader software for the Palm OS. The new product will enable Palm users to view content in a Portable Document Format (PDF) file format. A beta version of the product is available for download free of charge from the Adobe web site at www.adobe.co.uk/betareg.html

Adobe has also announced a new version of its Content Server software to enable the encryption of PDF content being distributed in a eBook format via the web. And, Amazon.com has announced a global deal that will see Adobe's eBook Reader software being used in Amazon.com's e-book store as the basis of nearly 2000 PDF based eBooks. Over the next 12 months, the two companies plan to extend the alliance to Amazon's UK, German, French and Japanese web sites.

LITIGATION SUPPORT - ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY ALLIANCE
Applied Discovery Inc, the US developer of electronic-to-electronic discovery systems, has formed strategic alliances with two leading computer forensics service providers: PricewaterhouseCoopers and New Technologies Inc.

"Our clients frequently work with computer forensics experts to ensure they accurately capture all relevant electronic data from servers, drives and disks without jeopardizing the integrity of the data" said Michael Weaver, president and CEO of Applied Discovery. "These strategic alliances allow our companies the ability to provide single-source electronic discovery services. Since we all work towards the same ultimate goal, it seemed only logical that we join forces to enhance and streamline the entire electronic discovery process for our clients."

Commenting on the deal, Nicholas Barone of PwC said "Today's approach to electronic discovery litigation has changed over the past five years and now requires a total solution. That solution needs to include a discovery expert, a repository for files and the ability to convert large volumes of electronic documents to a single common format to facilitate the review process." For more details visit www.applieddiscovery.com

LEGAL WEB.TV - A NEW SERVICE FOR THE LEGAL COMMUNITY
This week sees the launch of Legal Web.tv, a new digital television service that delivers its content via the internet in the form of webcasts. Initially the content, which is available free of charge to viewers, will focus on regular reports and comment on the latest developments in legal technology and new media law however future plans include a series of short movies covering keynote presentations given at major legal conferences and seminars.

Legal Web.tv will not be charging viewers to watch its webcasts. Instead, following the example of the early days of radio, it will derive its revenues from the sponsorship of programmes, as well as from the production of video and webcast programmes for other organisations, including law firms, legal publishers and technology companies.

The Legal Web.tv service is a joint venture between Legal News Media, the publishers of the Legal Technology News.com newsletter, and Rollingball Digital Television, the multimedia arm of the Semple Piggot Rochez group that developed the world's first internet law school. Rollingball has already produced digital TV programmes for news and marketing web sites, as well as training programmes for law firm inhouse networks and intranets.

Legal Web.tv content is also be available for syndication on third-party web sites. Four sites, including the new NetChambers site for barristers and the Consilio law students site, have already signed up as syndication partners. The main webcasts are in streaming video format, require RealPlayer 8 (this is a free utility program) and can be accessed via any PC or Mac with a 56kbps modem (although ISDN of higher provide faster download times.) The presentation movies will be in QuickTime format and can be accessed via a standard web browser with the appropriate plug-ins. Legal Web.tv is at www.legalweb.tv

COURT TECHNOLOGY (1) - COURT INFORMATION KIOSK GOES LIVE IN UK
This week saw the UK's first touch-screen information kiosk to help people use the law courts go live at the main public library in Telford. The prototype kiosk, which was developed as a partnership between the Court Service, the University of Wolverhampton and Telford & Wrekin Council, provides access to forms and leaflets on court procedures and general information on what to expect if you have to attend court. There is also a video on jury service and an audio introduction to the Court Service. Future plans include a dial-up video conferencing link to the Telford Citizen's Advice Bureau which will enable further advice to be given.

Professor Steve Molyneux and the University of Wolverhampton (Telford Campus) have been instrumental in delivering this initiative. They have liased with all the organisations involved and provided technical guidance and input to the kiosk's functions. Professor Molyneux said: "Internet based technologies have already had a radical impact on the private and working lives of citizens from all walks of life. These changes have occurred within one generation. The introduction of this kiosk is the first step in providing access to public services for a 21st century society."

Over the next six months, the design and level of use of the kiosk will be evaluated. The findings of the pilot could see the project extended to other parts of Telford and beyond. The Court Service is also discussing the opportunities to operate on shared or commercial networks with other agencies and commercial kiosk suppliers.

COURT TECHNOLOGY (2) - XML GETS BOOST IN US
@Court, a US provider of web-based litigation support services, has announced the release of its Connectivity Tool Kit (CTK) for back-office court management systems. The move is expected to accelerate US courts' compliance with the Legal XML standard as the basis for electronic filing (eFiling) systems. @Court's Legal XML compliant, open source CTK is available free of charge via the web at www.atcourt.com

COURT TECHNOLOGY (3) - BROOKE PUT IN CHARGE OF MODERNISATION
England's Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, has appointed Lord Justice Brooke as judge in charge of modernisation.

"I have appointed Lord Justice Brooke," said the Lord Chief, "to this new post to ensure that the needs of the judges are fully taken into account when any decisions are taken which may affect the way we administer justice in our courts. Lord Justice Brooke has been authorised by the Heads of Division and myself to act on behalf of the judiciary."

Sir Henry Brooke, as he is otherwise known, already represents the judiciary on the Modernising the Civil Courts Programme Board, whose task is to modernise the civil and family courts. He will play the same role on the Crown Court Programme Board, which is concerned with the criminal courts. He will also lead the judiciary on a new Judicial Technology Project Board. One of the tasks of this Board will be to develop a strategy for judicial use of IT over the next ten years.

It sounds a dry old announcement on paper but in fact Sir Henry Brooke is one of the most computer literate judges on the bench of any court on either side of the Atlantic today. He also has the distinct advantage of being a realist - rather than a techno enthusiast forever jumping on to every new gizmo band waggon that rolls along - and a critic of some of the more triumph of spin over substance initiatives the Lord Chancellor's Department has been announcing in recent years.

YAHOO! TO BAN ADULT CONTENT DESPITE BLOW TO INCOME
Despite currently being under pressure with falling advertising revenues, the world's largest internet portal Yahoo! has announced plans to ban all advertising for adult products, including videos and DVDs from its shopping, auctions and classified ad sites in both the United States and Australia/New Zealand. The company has also said it will no longer accept banner advertising for adult content sites. The move is in response to user complaints following a report which last week revealed that movies such as "Deep Throat" were only a couple of clicks away from family entertainment such as "Swallows and Amazons". Yahoo! say "the revenue implications of this decision are very small".

LERNOUT & HAUSPIE SCANDAL STILL ROLLING ALONG
Investigations by PricewaterhouseCoopers have discovered that about 70 percent of the $160 million in sales booked by the Korean unit of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products during a nine month period to June 2000 were fictitious with, in many instances, L&H's own staff posing as customers in an attempt to fool the company's auditors. L&H chief executive Philippe Bodson said the fraud was intended to falsify sales figures so staff could win large bonuses. Bodson added that he thought the nature of the fraud would one day become a case study at business schools.

L&H is now planning to bring lawsuits against a number of its former Korean executives as well as some of the Korean banks who provided L&H with factoring deals. In a related development, the company's auditors KPMG have filed a lawsuit in a Belgian court against the company's former senior executives alleging that the "deliberately" provided "false or incomplete information" to KPMG and conspired to obstruct the audit process.

Meanwhile the Belgian commercial court in Ypres has accepted claims worth EU 563 million from a total of 335 creditors of L&H. On 5th Jun, the creditors will be permitted to vote at a hearing on whether the court order, granting L&H protection from creditors under the Belgian equivalent of the Chapter 11 rules, should be extended.

INFO COMMISSIONER GETS NEW LEGAL ADVISER
The UK's Information Commissioner (IC) has appointed solicitor Nicholas Tyler as its new legal adviser. The Information Commissioner, previously known as the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, has responsibility for the enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as well as the Data Protection Act 1998.

In a related development, the IC has confirmed that a new code of conduct, governing workplace privacy and the right of employers to monitor their staffs' email traffic, has been delayed until at least the end of this year following extensive industry lobbying. One of the biggest concerns relates to the apparently conflicting provisions under different pieces of legislation, including the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - NAPSTER IS EVERYWHERE
In an interview following the recent US Supreme Court proceedings in the case he brought against several US publishers, including The New York Times and Lexis-Nexis owner Reed Elsevier, after they began to make his work available in online databases - without asking permission or offering additional compensation - Jonathan Tasini said "The [Napster] analogy here would be that there is widespread theft going on in the freelance writer world - except the thieves are the very companies that are [ordinarily] arguing for copyright protection. I find that slightly hypocritical."

JORDANS AND EASI JOIN FORCES
UK Legal services provider Jordans has joined forces with grants specialists Enterprise Advisory Service International to provide practitioners and their clients with fast, easy access to information about sources of funding and other business support on the web.

Professionals who sign up for the grants and funding service can identify relevant sources of support from the EASI database, that includes more than 2,500 grant providers, business angels, venture capitalists and other sources of help, using simple search criteria. They can then hyperlink directly to providers' sites to find out vital information such as eligibility criteria, how to make applications and applicable expiry dates. EASI's automatic search and retrieval software ensures the information provided is constantly checked for relevance and accuracy and the service is supported by an online Newsletter and Newsroom facility. Users can also seek direct help from the EASI helpline, by phone or email. The service is available via www.jordans.co.uk and costs £250 per year (plus VAT) for unlimited multiple user access.

PUBLISHERS ANNOUNCEMENT - EZINE ARCHIVE NOW AVAILABLE
In response to reader requests, we have now set up an online archive of back issues of this newsletter dating back to January 2001. Issues are in HTML file format and can be accessed on the web at www.legaltechnology.org/ezine

From the publishers of Legal Technology Insider. Click here for the latest legal IT jobs, events diary and additional law reports. Next issue - 26.04.2001