Internet Legal Research Weekly -- April 27, 2008

Welcome to Issue #297 of the Internet Legal Research Weekly, a newsletter that delivers relevant and timely legal research information, and other fun stuff, to your inbox every Sunday. If you like what you read, please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to do the same! To subscribe, all you have to do is visit Inter Alia and fill out the subscription form -- it's free!

Blawgs of the Week
Here are a few of the great law-related weblogs mentioned on Inter Alia last week:

This week I'm continuing a multi-part set of tips on computer security. This week we'll talk about "phishing," which is defined by Wikipedia as "an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication." This past week, we learned about a new phishing attempt, where people received emails purporting to be from a U.S. District Court, with the Subject line "Subpoena." Although not everyone was fooled, there were reports of people clicking on the file, and getting a virus in the process. So I thought I'd offer some tips about making sure you don't get hooked in a phishing scam.

-- Just don't click -- unless you are 1000% certain, don't click on a link in an email. Although it might look legitimate, it might not be. Instead of clicking it, go directly to your browser and type in the URL.

-- Real financial institutions don't (or at least shouldn't) ask you to verify your accounts via e-mail.

-- Have you ever gotten an email titled "A greeting card is waiting for you"? This is one of the most common phishing techniques -- again, don't click on the link!

-- Do you ever get a pop-up that says "your computer is insecure! Click here to download free diagnostic software." This is another type of phishing trick. Don't give in.

-- Both Internet Explorer and Firefox have filters to tell if the site you're visiting is a fake. To turn it on in IE, select Tools, then Phishing Filter. In Firefox, select Options, then the Security tab, and check the box next to Tell me if the site I'm visiting is a suspected forgery.

Do you have a question about searching the Internet or your computer in general? Drop me an e-mail at tom(at)inter-alia(dot)net – I’ll post your question (don’t worry, I won’t use your real name) and try to get an answer for you!

University of Victoria Libraries/Diana M. Priestly Law Library
Law libraries are often good sites to keep handy for reference purposes, and this Victoria-based law library is no exception. Here you'll find links to a large number of free legal websites on Canadian law, as well as access to the library's card catalog and current awareness tools.

GlobalHealth.gov
This agency of the federal government provides policy guidance and coordination on refugee health policy issues, among other things. The resources provided here include information on Initiatives and Partnerships, Global Health Topics, International Travel, Refugee Health, Exchange Visitor Programs, and more.

Law.com IP Law Practice Center ($$)
As with most of Law.com's practice centers, this site is mostly devoted to providing you with news on intellectual property law from ALM publications around the country. But you can also filter your search by specialty, to narrow down the number of stories shown. Users also have access to practice papers, decisions, and an events calendar. There's even an RSS feed that will notify you when new information is available. Unfortunately, to take advantage of this content you must be a Law.com subscriber, which costs $15/month or $129/year.

Kappler's Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
This is an online version of a treatise on Native American Indiana laws, compiled by Charles Kappler and maintained by Oklahoma State University Library. The seven-volume set provides you with access to scanned images from laws and treaties compiled from as far back as 1778. You can browse the volumes separately, or search them all at once. This site hasn't been updated in some time, but because it basically contains the entire set, it really doesn't need to be updated.

Federal Rules of Evidence
Here's another page to keep bookmarked for reference purposes, this one kept by Cornell's Legal Information Institute. As with most of these sites, you can browse the FRE, or search by keyword. You can also purchase a downloadable version of the rules for $14.95.

Need a piece of graph or lined paper, but don't want to go out and buy a whole package? Head over to Printable Paper and print one out yourself.

M.A.D., or Mutually Assured Destruction, is really just an update of a missile defense video game you may remember from the past.

Well, that’s it for Issue #297– I hope you liked it! If you did, pass this along to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to subscribe. Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail any time if you have questions, or if you have websites or other topics you want included in a future issue.

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Questions? New websites? Just want to talk? Send me an e-mail at tom(at)inter-alia(dot)net.