spoken for

hmmm… what?

 

Stupid Signatures

May 17th, 2006
 

So, quite a bit I get these email forwards from people or just regular emails. They often use their business email address and sometimes the emails close with these utterly rediculous signatures, such as the following.

One of my uncle’s:

This electronic mail message contains information that(a)is or may be LEGALLY PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY IN NATURE, OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED BY LAW FROM DISCLOSURE, and(b)is intended only for the use of the Addressee(s)named herein. If you are not the intended recipient, an addressee, or the person responsible for delivering this to an addressee, you are hereby notified that reading, using, copying, or distributing any part of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail message in error, please contact us immediately and take the steps necessary to delete the message completely from your computer system.
Thank you.

Or this one that came from who knows because it was at the bottom of a forward with images:

This e-mail and its attachments may contain ______, Inc. proprietary information that is privileged, confidential or subject to copyright belonging to ______, Inc. This e-mail is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this e-mail to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying or action taken in relation to the contents of and attachments to this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copy of this e-mail and any printout.

Well I guess both of those are pretty similar.

However, it’s got me wondering, just how legal are those things?

I mean, if someone sends me an email, I haven’t agreed to their “terms” beforehand, how can they just enforce them and expect me to delete something if I don’t agree or it was sent to me in error? I never solicited it in the first place. Or, if I’m sent a forward? They can’t claim copyright on those images, I know that for a fact. Plus, if they did send it to me in error, by spelling an email address wrong, or whatever, how is that my fault?

Okay maybe what I’m saying doesn’t make much sense, but I don’t see how those signatures can really be legal and enforceable. Just seems to me they’re trying to be bullies and threaten people…

I guess to get to the point: these signatures bug the crap out of me.

 
Posted in Days Go By, tagged: , ,
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5 Responses to “Stupid Signatures”

  1. Im chele In [dot] LA
    May 17th, 2006 at 6.30 pm
     

    oh wow I was on your site reading the post and then I go back and you were there when I was here………………………
    ahahahah

  2. Paul Sveda
    May 17th, 2006 at 9.58 pm
     

    First off, thanks for stopping by with the positive comment, its much appreciated. Now, onto your sig rant.

    Those sigs are for the most part binding and are a means of protection. Its obviously not your fault if I send you something due to my fingers flubbing an e-mail address. However IF the information is of a sensitive nature and IF you are itchy to forward it to all you friends then at the very least there is a legal notice and you could be held accountable for your actions. Of course, like all things in the legal system, this would come down to those administering justice in such a case and how they interpret the situation.

    NOW, with that said. Yes I find them amusing and the ones you posted are short compared so some that I have received in the past.! :)

    cheers,

    P.

  3. Jawa · (subscriber)
    May 18th, 2006 at 9.30 am
     

    It’s a Free World….. Bring on the Communist :-P

  4. Bes
    May 19th, 2006 at 12.15 pm
     

    Heh, that’s funny, and interesting. I would think you are NOT obligated under any such “contract” since you did not agree to it, nor did you in any manner ask for some information from the receiver where knowing about such a contract would have been necessary [in which case you could not say "Oh, I didn't know such contracts existed for such things", since supposedly many people would know they do].

    If you forward the emails, then I’m guessing it becomes like a copyright thing; I can open a magazine and look at pictures. But if I make xerox copies and give it to others, then maybe Corbis.com might not be able to sleep for a night [I doubt they care about a single penguin in the world].

    I find it so funny, and sometimes weird, when the actual email is sometimes only a single line, and the rest of the 5 or so lines are the above copyright messages. :p Nice post; I didn’t think much about these before, heh.

  5. Bes
    June 4th, 2006 at 2.11 am
     

    By the way, most of such signatures originate in the non-communist world. :p

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