Archival note: Although information contained in OIT Newsletter articles was current at the time of publication, some details may no longer reflect the present state of technology and the Office of Information Technology.
February 1999, Vol.3 No.11 | Information Technology Newsletter | February Table of Contents
Ken Hanna, OIT Year 2000 Coordinator http://www.umn.edu/oit/year2000
One of the realities of the year 2000 issue is that there is a great potential for lawsuits. In our increasingly litigious society the often-quoted prediction of a decade of litigation after January 1, 2000 seems believable. This possibility has not been lost on companies; and there has, therefore, been a reduced amount of information companies have been willing to make available on product readiness. Maybe things will change.
In October, President Clinton signed a new law called the "Year 2000 Information Readiness and Disclosure Act."
One of the intentions of the new law is to promote disclosure and exchange of information regarding year 2000 issues. To accomplish this, the idea is to raise the bar (no pun intended) for the use of year 2000 statements as evidence in a law suit, so long as certain legal tests are met. There are various exclusions and provisions of the law, and only a couple of them are covered below. The complete text of the law is available at: http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/hill/s2392es.htm
The act states that year 2000 statements can be by any form or medium of communication. Nowadays one of the most common is a website. Note that a letter or e-mail, among other methods, would generally fit under the definition also. Whatever the medium, there should be something informing the recipient that the statement is a year 2000 readiness statement. The term "year 2000 Internet website" is specifically defined.
Any "re-publications" (repetition of statements originally made by another party) need to be clearly identified as such. In web terms this means that links to other sites need to clearly tell the reader the destination of the link. If a link is to another party, they need to be properly identified as re-publications with the source clearly identified.
The Office of Information Technology Year 2000 website <www.umn.edu/oit/year2000> is the designated site for year 2000 information at the University of Minnesota. You will note that the phrase "Year 2000 Readiness Statement" is highlighted and is linked to further legal information.
In light of the above background information, you can appreciate why both are important information that readers need to know. We tell the reader the destination of links to other non-University sites.
With the various campuses and decentralized units, the question sometimes comes up about departmental websites. Remember, to those outside the University, there is only one legal University of Minnesota entity, so we need to make it clear to readers about where to find information; and if we provide it, we need to protect ourselves legally.
It is important that all statements regarding University Y2K compliance issues be coordinated with Office of Information Technology and the Office of the General Counsel to ensure that we take full advantage of the benefits of this new law.
Page URL: http://www.umn.edu/oit/newsletter/0299-itn/y2k.html
© 1999 the Regents of the
University of Minnesota
and the Office of Information Technology