Re: WORTH READING Wow -- eye-opening

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf () sethf com>
Date: November 14, 2008 9:11:36 AM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>, Gene Spafford <spaf () cerias purdue edu>,  
Jim Warren <jwarren () well com>
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:    WORTH READING  Wow -- eye-opening

[For IP, if worthy]
> While I can understand the general sense of ludicrous caution that
> underscores these questions, it is nevertheless ludicrous.

        One phenomena I've noticed in terms of "culture clash" is that
the opening position of a lawyer is often to ask for *everything*,
apparently on the theory they can negotiate "down", but not "up".
I've seen several lawyer/tech interactions that go roughly like this:
(humorously exaggerated to make the point)

Lawyer: Give me the stars, the sun, the moon, the sky, the earth.
Tech: That's stupid! That's absurd! You should ask for precisely and
exactly what you need and nothing more, otherwise you're wasting
everyone's time.
Lawyer: But I might need everything. I don't know what I need.
Tech: You should be able to make reasonable estimates.
Lawyer: If something later found to be important, fell outside the
estimate, it'd be "on me". So I'd rather make you work extensively,
and I'll bill a lot of hours, than risk being wrong.
Tech: Then you're a dumb mindless droid, and I laugh at your nonsense.

        I've come to realize the tactical response here isn't to argue
with the lawyer, but rather your own side's lawyer (note, you're
assumed to have one!) negotiates down, so that everyone's "covered".

        That being said, the questions picked out/on below are not that
unreasonable in context:

> "Do you know someone who could be used unfairly to impugn your  
> character?"
> Of course; even wallflowers have enemies, never mind useful people.

        C'mon. That's being deliberately dense. There's enemies and
there's enemies. The question is obviously a politely phrased way
of asking about "escorts" and shady associates and similar ilk.

> "Have you ever borrowed more than $10,000?"
> Hasn't everyone who's ever had a student loan or started a company?

        This is actually a relatively easy one. Most people have
records of such loans, and haven't taken out too many.

> "List any potentially embarrassing e-mail messages."
> Okay, but I don't have to mention my presidential porn collection,  
> right?

        As long as the porn's not stored on a publically accessible server
and indexed by search engines - then it could be embarrassing. Real  
case:

Linkname: Don't blame the judge for falling through the web's open  
doors | Technology | The Guardian
URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/19/hitechcrime.internet

> "Do you write potentially embarrassing things in your diary?"
> Why else would you keep a diary?

        Historical and expense purposes. "Where were you during X event?".
"Did you ever meet with Y during Z?". Many business or politics types  
keep
non-confessional diaries, which are just records of places travelled,
people met, costs, etc.

> "List all comments and blog postings you've ever made."
> Sure, just...  Google $myname | lp -P $yourprinter

        Cultural differences again. Some people don't make a habit of
flaming :-). Some people don't even show up in Google (*gasp*).

> "Do you know any [...news organization...] that might take
> steps to criticize your appointment?"  You mean, apart
> from those douchebags at Fox News?

        That's another "Do you have any significant political enemies?"


        Sadly, this all may get *worse* if we have a media system that
gets worse in terms of favoring the attention-seeking controversy,
as opposed to ignoring peccadilloes as not newsworthy (the public  
interest
versus what interests the public).      

--
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  sethf () sethf com  http://sethf.com
Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/
Interview: http://sethf.com/essays/major/greplaw-interview.php




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com