Welcome to the MSBA Computer Law Section's foray into blogging. We hope that this site will ultimately become a timely, informative forum to discuss matters shaping technology law in Minnesota and around the country.
Since its inception, this section has sought to serve its members by providing them informative, insightful articles, as well as cases of interest to the technology practitioner. In the beginning, these newsletters were provided via U.S. Mail and were delivered three times a year. Later, editor Dianne Plunkett Latham determined that -- as the Computer Law Section -- we should distribute the Newsletter online, where members were notified via e-mail that a PDF of the Newsletter had been posted on the Section website. While this method instantly reached our members, it was still constrained by the limited number of issues a year. Months could go by without discussion of cases or issues that affected our members.
During this time, we had also experimented with chat rooms, where our members were encouraged to discuss technology-law issues. Unfortunately, that experiment did not garner sufficient critical mass and ultimately languished.
Lastly, our members have consistently stated that the Newsletter is one of the primary benefits of their membership. Members have also noted that they would prefer to have more issues and more content. That brings us to the present.
This blog seeks to remedy previous limitations by providing our membership with timely postings, interactive discussions, and immediate feedback. Rather than being limited to two or three issues a year, members may instantly receive updates on technology law cases and developments through RSS feeds. And to discuss these matters of interest, members need not wait until the Counsil meeting but can immediately discuss them via the comment feature. This also benefits our members who cannot regularly attend the council meetings, including those members in Greater Minnesota. Lastly, we believe that -- as the Technology Law Committee -- it is incumbent upon us to lead the way to develop new technological solutions, pushing the envelope of effective communication through technology.
As we move forward, we plan to constantly update you, our readers, with the issues and cases that most interest you. It is our hope that you will benefit the instantaneous distribution and interactivity that this medium provides. Please feel free to let us know, either through comments or via e-mail, what you think of our new format.
Thank you for joining us, and we hope you enjoy our posts.
-Damien Riehl, Newsletter Editor Emeritus
-Kevin Brady, Newsletter Committee
-Alycia Kirkevold, Newsletter Committee