Signature or Mental Blocks
By brendan at 18 June, 2007, 8:15 pm
The other day I got an email from Ausindustry that stated at the bottom:
“The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments to it, is intended for the use of the addressee and is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, read, forward, copy or retain any of the information. If you received this e-mail in error, please delete it and notify the sender by return e-mail or telephone.
The Commonwealth does not warrant that any attachments are free from viruses or any other defects. You assume all liability for any loss, damage or other consequences which may arise from opening or using the attachments.
The security of emails transmitted in an unencrypted environment cannot be guaranteed. By forwarding or replying to this email, you acknowledge and accept these risks. “
Typical stuff that lawyers write, with a very aggressive tone “you must not use” etc. Now I am sure that lawyers will argue that clauses like this at the bottom will put you on notice that information contained may result from a breach of confidence.
Although I am not a lawyer, I note that there is very little case law in this area, and virtually nothing since the advent of the internet, and certainly nothing in Australia. I would also suggest that I wasn’t aware of any of the conditions, until I received the email and had read all the way to the bottom. And it seems to me that clause would only be tested in extremely rare circumstances, as it would be difficult to prove, and be a protracted expensive matter.
So I’m not going to argue from a legal point of view that the clause is stupid. What I will do is argue from an Entrepreneur’s point of view. What a waste of opportunity! Why not send emails with signature blocks that benefit you 99.999% of the time, rather than protect you 0.001% of the time.
When I get an email, I like to know whom its from and what their contact details are so I can call them if I need to discuss an issue. There’s nothing worse than getting an email from someone, and then having to look them up in the whitepages or their companies website before you respond to them. So please, when you send me an email, make sure all your contact details are in your signature block.
Secondly, everytime you contact someone by email, its an opportunity to promote your company, products or services. Searching through my sent mail folder, it appears I send around 20 emails a day (excluding mail outs). This is 100 people a week that I am touching, or roughly 400 a month. Why wouldn’t I be advertising my services?
This blog was written by:
Brendan Lewis
Executive Director, The Churchill Club Ltd
7 Leveson Street, North Melbourne, 3051, Victoria, Australia
Tel: 03 9329 8411, Fax: 03 9329 9939, Mob: 0412 039 495, skype: brendanlewis24
Email: blewis@churchillclub.org.au, Web: www.churchillclub.org.au
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