In a landmark ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court declared that it is OK to serve legal documents via e-mail to entities without a known physical address.
A trademark infringement suit between the Las Vegas based Rio Properties and the Costa Rican Rio International triggered the ruling after prior attempts to serve the Central American casino failed.
“When faced with an international e-business scofflaw playing hide-and-seek with the federal court, e-mail may be the only means of effecting service of process,” the court said.
“E-business scofflaw” sounds like the Court has already ruled on how they feel about the case.
This ruling is an example of the courts rewriting the playbook in the middle of a game because they have no jurisdiction in another country. The ruling has no effect on the people of Costa Rica but it has opened a Pandora’s box that can seriously hurt U.S. citizens.
We have no problem, in theory, with serving legal papers by e-mail. There is a common ground of convenience for everyone involved. Unfortunately, the reality is that e-mail is insecure.
It can go to an inactive box. It can go to the wrong box. It can be broken. It can be broken into. It can be forged. It can be ignored. It cannot be confirmed.
Apparently, e-mail is a reality. The court justified their short sighted ruling by saying that they cannot be blind to the changes and advances in technology.
Nor can they be blind to Muslim Americans, driving while black, financial/digital apartheid, police brutality, illegal elections and a host of other realities of society yet they are.
The 9th US Circuit Court ruling is a waste of time that simply demonstrates the gulf of perspective between the rulers and the ruled.
