Technology’s pervasive reach and society’s mounting dependence upon it has weighty implications for evidence jurisprudence. As individuals continue to use the Internet as a means of commerce, personal expression, and social interaction, the Internet has become an increasingly important source of information pertaining to those personal and business transactions. When disputes arise, parties and their attorneys are often forced to rely upon evidence taken from Internet sources in advocating their positions.
While the public is eager to use the Internet as an information source, the courts were initially reluctant to allow website content to be used in the courtroom. Finding the Internet, and the World Wide Web in particular, to be a "catalyst for rumor, innuendo, and misinformation", early courts dealing with Internet evidentiary issues proceeded cautiously. See St. Clair v. Johnny’s Oyster & Shrimp, Inc., 76 F.Supp.2d 773, 774 (S.D. Tex. 1999)("Anyone can put anything on the Internet. No web-site is monitored for accuracy and nothing contained therein is under oath or even subject to independent verification absent underlying documentation. Moreover, the Court holds no illusions that hackers can adulterate the content on any web-site from any location at any time. For these reasons, any evidence procured off the Internet is adequate for almost nothing ..."). More recently, courts have realized that thoughful application of traditional evidentiary premises will resolve any concern over the unreliability of information found on the Internet. Accordingly, the law of "Internet evidence" has become more clear.
