Author: Nick Holmes
Open data: free to use and republish
Open data is the idea that some data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or similar. The philosophy behind it is long established, but the term “open data” itself was more recently coined. It appeared for the first time in 1995, in a […]
Open law: digital common property
Open law is the idea that public legal information should be freely available to everyone to access, use and republish. The current position in the UK differs completely as between legislation and case law. In the July issue of the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers I consider the state of open law in the UK. As […]
Legal ebooks: who needs them?
In the July issue of the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers I look at the current state of the law publishers’ ebook offerings. Image: Ebook cc by by Daniel Sancho on Flickr.
The role of technology in legal advice and assistance
In June’s Legal Web Watch I review two reports on the application of technology in delivering legal advice and assistance. Image: Detail from the cover of the the Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools (ALATs) in Australia. The report is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence.
Algorithms in law
In the May issue of Internet Newsletter for Lawyers I review recent analyses of the developing law relating to the application of algorithms. Image: 1044 cc by x6e38 on Flickr.
Do I still need to use the www in URLs?
In March’s Internet Newsletter for Lawyers: The answer to the question “Do I still need to use the www in URLs?” is, of course, “It depends.” It depends on the context. Read on.
Big Tech and AI in 2017
I recently posted a review of What we learned in 2017 on Internet Newsletter for Lawyers. Here are my bits from it and a few extracts from contributors. It has been apparent for some time that the biggest tech companies, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Twitter, have grown too large for our collective good. 2017 was […]
Links in law and practice
In January’s Internet Newsletter for Lawyers: Links are fundamental to the web; without them it would literally not exist. So, it is surprising that legal advice on linking usually starts by counselling the linker that they should first obtain permission. See, for example, Linking and Framing on Out-Law.com (admittedly, that was 2008) and Think before […]
Robot lawyers (again)
In the July issue of Internet Newsletter for Lawyers Casey Flaherty forcefully makes the case against the hype surrounding AI and robots in legal, particularly by vendors talking up their own offerings. He is also somewhat sensitive to those who call their offerings “lawyers” when they clearly are not. One such, indeed the one who […]
How Twitter works
A number of commentators are referring to the Twitter libel case of Jack Monroe v Katie Hopkins [2017] EWHC 433 (QB). In particular, the How Twitter Works appendix has got some excited. The full judgment is now on BAILII and the Appendix is below. You could also check out my effort. HOW TWITTER WORKS 1. […]
Using a bus lane as a cash cow
Several months back I followed an unfamiliar route across London twice in 10 days. Two weeks after the first incident I received a PCN for driving in a bus lane and 10 days later another one! I could not believe I had inadvertently strayed into a bus lane twice so I googled it. It’s a […]
Blogging for lawyers in 2017
I wrote this 6 years ago. I can’t see that I would need to update it for 2017. All the talk these days is about social networking. Have you got a Facebook page? Do you Tweet? Are you LinkedIn? But we should not forget that the granddaddy of the so-called social media is blogging and […]
RSS is dying, right?
My latest post on Internet Newsletter for Lawyers: I am a long-time proponent of RSS but am aware that it is declining in visibility. Many sites large and small are not offering RSS feeds any more. What’s up? Read more
The need for technological competence
My latest post on Internet Newsletter for Lawyers: Across the pond, in 2012, the American Bar Association formally approved a change to their Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty to be competent not only in the law and its practice, but also in technology, amending Comment 8 to […]
