To add to what I said earlier: On Sunday, August 5, 2001, at 03:36 PM, Tim May wrote:
On Sunday, August 5, 2001, at 03:01 PM, Aimee Farr wrote:
Yes. Unless it is of special relevance. For example:
Dear company:
I just wanted to write you and tell you that the microwave that I bought from you exploded. Thought you should know. Nobody was hurt, thank goodness! Maybe something is wrong with it? .... The above wouldn't just be any old email now would it?
Which is why important letters and notifications which may be relevant in some future case are almost always sent via registered mail, served in person, and so on. \
There is a big difference between a legal notice like "You are hereby notified of a possible defect in your Whackomatic product and copies of this letter have been sent to your legal offices and with the Better Business Bureau." and "Hey, I hope you kept that e-mail I sent you last year."
By the way, my insurance companies, financial advisors, and real estate agents will NOT take e-mail orders or instructions. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, for example, will NOT take orders or instructions in e-mail. Reasons for this are obvious. Now someday there may be a more robust _technology_ for ensuring receipt of e-mail (return receipts and digital signatures go a long way, of course, toward this end). This may then change the _customs_ of users of e-mail. And then the _law_ may evolve to fit these changes in technology and custom. But this is now. --Tim May