Are there any cases in which the content or delivery of e-mail have been disputed?

Most searches into case law look at the original complaints and the final disposition. Information that argues what e-mails may be admissible as evidence or what e-mail may not is less readily available. However, every day there are cases that are going through various stages of evidence discovery in which e-mail is used and disputed as evidence of communications. It is in this phase of the litigation in which the Registered E-mail^® service becomes most valuable - in the decision or argument as to what actually transpired.

Questions arise as to what was delivered and what was perhaps just sent and undeliverable or intended to be sent and was not. Other questions may arise in arguments around e-mail evidence such as what time the communication occurred (sent, delivered, opened) and what the actual content was that was transmitted. It is in this part of litigation that Registered Receipts™ messages provide valuable information, proof, and ensure that critical communications will be accepted as evidence and not thrown out.

Registered E-mail^® messages hold far greater evidential weight than traditional mail, courier, fax, or e-mail, and therefore, should provide the sender with protection that will stand up to scrutiny in a dispute resolution situation. The Registered E-mail^® service would provide the sender the upper hand in any legal discovery disputes.

From the perspective of a mediator, arbitrator, or judicial officer, one looks first at the evidentiary value of what is submitted in gauging its trustworthiness. Evidential weight is about reducing uncertainty surrounding the evidence. The party with the greater evidential weight will win in most cases, or at least mitigate its liability.

Disputing Validity of Certain Evidence

In a legal dispute, it is commonplace to ask the opposing party for their computer and e-mail records during the "Discovery" phase. In producing such records, it is difficult to discern what has been transmitted, which are drafts, and what material is a final version of a document. Registered Receipts™ provide the sender with verifiable proof of what was factually transmitted in a communication and differentiates from the other drafts and work in process products. If the other party disputes the validity of evidence contained in a Registered Receipt™ message any holder of the receipt can verify its authenticity at any time while it is in electronic form. This can save the sender time and tremendous legal cost as they organize their response to document requests during litigation.

Determining Actual Use of Computer Records

Microsoft, AOL, Lotus, Novell and other receipt products are not returned for all transmissions, provide no information that can be authenticated, and provide no information about content transmitted. These offer very little evidentiary value in a dispute.

By contrast, a Registered Receipt™ message provides proof of transmission, differentiates from drafts, provides easy access to recipient delivery information, provides the legal time of sending and delivery for any e-mail address, proves body content and proves content of all attachments. RPost provides this in a low cost, easily retrievable manner.

Proof in a Dispute

	No court rulings have treated e-mail communications as probative in any case in which the time, content or delivery of the message have been disputed. If the other side is not willing to stipulate that they received your e-mail and that it said what you say it did, it might as well not exist.
	You should know that retaining copies of e-mails you have sent does not allow you to prove that they were sent or that their content is unchanged. Messages can appear in the sent folder without being sent and can be easily and undetectably changed.
	The time stamps that appear on e-mails are wholly dependant on user's computer time settings and has little evidentiary value.
	While United States Postal Service mail is deemed delivered if sent, this is not true of electronic mail. UETA stipulates that electronic messages can be regarded as delivered only if they can be shown to have arrived at the recipient's mail system.
	Up to an estimated 15% of standard e-mails never reach their destinations (e-Marketer Q4 2002).
	The "delivery receipts" you sometimes receive from recipients mail systems are easily amended or forged and have little evidentiary value.