Electronic Discovery and Evidence

The Future Today - Online Archived Data Storage

Cisco deploys Apple SAN for litigation archive. "Like two new kids on the playground looking to make friends, Cisco and Apple have reached out to one another. The two powerhouse companies, both relatively new to storage, have announced that Cisco has deployed Apple's new Xsan file system and Xserve RAID storage subsystem to provide online archiving of Cisco's litigation- and compliance-related data. IT integrator, Digital Strata, which manages Cisco's litigation lab and its electronic discovery product development group, will manage the deployment of the Apple products at Cisco. . . "

Comment:  Once more the distinction between accessible vs. inacessible data will become moot as online archiving system become the norm.

Legislators Upset by Auto Black Boxes

NH lawmakers irked by black boxes in cars "TWO NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATORS are surprised to learn their vehicles are equipped with electronic devices, popularly referred to as “black boxes,” that record a driver’s behavior seconds before an accident.

Like other GM car owners surveyed for this story, Reps. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, and Elbert Bicknell, R-Deerfield, had no idea their vehicles were equipped with electronic devices, popularly referred to as “black boxes,” that record a driver’s behavior seconds before an accident. . . ."

Electronic Discovery and Evidence

Digital Copier Electronic Evidence

Document Security and the Digital Copier and Printer " You've undoubtedly gone to great lengths to secure your network and intellectual property as well as to safeguard your client's confidences, but have you considered your digital office products from the perspective of your security infrastructure. . . The digital multifunction system's ability to manage image data for printing, scanning, faxing and copying creates versatile efficiency in your workflow, which is achieved through the innovation of the microprocessor and memory devices designed to handle electronic image data. But, did you ever ask yourself what happens to that image data after the job is complete? Most MFPs store image data in memory such as hard disk drives, the kind used in PCs. And just like a PC, the latent image data remains until that disk sector is overwritten. So, even if you think the data is deleted, it may not really be the case. The hard disk has a 'management data area' and a 'real data area', and when you delete data, you are only deleting data from the management data area, leaving the real data intact."

Storage Life Spans

(8-27-04) How Permanent Is That Storage? By Cindy Carlson. "Anybody out there still working in an office with a microfiche reader/printer? And how about a CD tower for database access? Remember when fiche and CDs were the next big technology idea? I was but a young student working as a library assistant when my firm put its fiche reader and its computers with stand-alone access to our CD collection in a little room off of the main library. I tried to get my librarian to call it the "Fiche and Chips" room, but wiser heads prevailed."

Comment: Must read article on the life span for different types of storage.

Storing Electronic Discovery

(6-28-04). Law firm turns to IP-based SAN to save money and handle growing numbers of electronic documents. "Law firms have been slow to embrace electronic documents. But now that they have, they also need to upgrade their storage and archiving systems. . . Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP employs 550 people, and its lawyers have been demanding better tools to store and manage electronic documents. "The need for storage is growing quite rapidly," CIO Steve Walsh says. "We process a lot of evidence in litigation, and it's all electronic now." Last year, the firm used 90 Gbytes to store litigation data; this year, it's up to around 600 Gbytes. That required Walsh to change the firm's storage infrastructure, moving from a bunch of high-capacity disk drives to an automated storage area network."

Comment: As electronic discovery and production increases this type of electronic storage will become routine.

"Electronic Food Stamps" - Smart Cards

(6-23-04). Electronic Cards Replace Coupons for Food Stamps. "The Bush administration announced Tuesday that it had completed one of the biggest changes in the history of the food stamp program, replacing paper coupons with electronic benefits and debit cards. . . Electronic benefits have replaced food stamp coupons in all states, and more than half the states now issue electronic benefits in place of welfare checks as well."

Comment: Another example of how your electronic discovery may involve the use of a smart card to support your case.

Smart Cards are Getting Smarter

"Beepcard Inc. is a leading developer and provider of miniaturized wireless authentication and verification systems for a variety of security and mass-market applications. Beepcard offers the world’s first reader-free smart card. . . The Comdot™ solution is easy and convenient: Users simply hold the card in front of their PC, phone or other networked microphone and squeezes the Comdot™ - a flat button on the card - the card uses sound, carrying a one time 3DES encrypted code, to identify the user to the destination server."

Comment: Another example of the communication and integration of various electronic devices. Be on the lookout for these type of devices in your electronic discovery.

Wal-Mart Turns to RFID Smart Tags

(4-30-04) Wal-Mart Turns to Smart Tags. The retail giant begins sticking RFID tags on some of its products, looking to the day when the technology replaces bar codes as the way of tracking inventory. The tags may also help cut down on counterfeiting and theft, Wal-Mart says.

Comment: Aside from the significant privacy issues, RFID smart tags will become commonplace on all consumer good purchased. They can be tracked, even after leaving a store, by comining into contact with a short or long range RFID reader. The tracking data may provide significant electronic discovery and electronic evidence in your cases.

Enterprise E-Mail Storage Solution

(4-5-04) "Connected Delivers Email Archiving Solution To Meet Compliance And Legal Discovery Needs, While Lowering Infrastructure Costs"

Comment: Another example of business's approach to controlling e-mail for electronic discovery purposes.

Backup Tapes (Disks)

(4-3-04) New EMC disk storage mimics tape. "To help companies handle data backup and recovery tasks, storage specialist EMC plans next week to unveil a product that is based on disk drives but acts as a tape device. EMC is calling the new product a "disk library," according to sources close to the company. So-called tape libraries are robotic mechanisms that house a number of magnetic tape drives and cartridges. Sources said the new product would allow speedier data backups and restorations than are possible with tape and minimal complications in installation. EMC disk libraries appear to computer systems as tape libraries and are designed to be up and running within two hours, the sources said. "

Comment: One of the hot electronic discovery cost shifting arguments is the expense of accessing backup "tapes". This new device will allow for easier access to backup "tapes" thus precluding cost shifting.

Technological advancements have caused electronic discovery problems, technological advancements will solve those problems.