I bet that got your attention. 

 Actually, I am beginning to think that I could write a monthly column on this subject alone. In the April, 1998 column I described a recent hearing by a Texas House of Representatives Committee on what actions the 1999 session of the legislature should take. That article is on-line at the Alamo PC website. Click on http://www.alamopc.org/claw/index.html for links to prior articles from this magazine. 

The legislature may not be of much help. The time is slipping away and the legislature will not convene until January. Most laws passed will not be effective until the end of August, 1999. Frankly, that will be too late. What can be done now? There are a few options. 

 One of the best quotes I've seen comes from Jason Matusow, the Year 2000 program manager at Microsoft. "Only 5 percent of the world's code has dates in it, but that small piece affects 85 percent to 95 percent of the rest of the code out there," Tick Tock—The Year 2000 Problem by Kathryn Crawford is posted on the Microsoft server at http://www.microsoft.com/misc/features.htm. Microsoft has launched a year 2000 web page at http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/. 

 I recently subscribed to an electronic discussion group that focuses on the legal aspects of the Year2000 mess. The Practicing Law Institute sponsors the list, and information about joining the discussion is posted at: http://www.pli.edu/cgi-bin/frm/arts/Y2K_Software_Comp.htm. Be prepared for at least ten messages a day. 

The postings have been interesting , hysterical (and I don't mean funny) and informative. But, there have been many helpful messages. Recent postings have shared information about the involvement of the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

 The dilemma—should we fix it or should we sue? 

 It is obvious that the issue is now getting the attention of the nation. So much so, people are struggling with the dilemma; how much of the remaining resources should be devoted to fixing the problem versus building defenses to lawsuits. 

Several contributors to the group predict the flood of litigation will paralyze the court system. Consequently, they call for special legislation that either limits liability or places a cap on damages. They suggest that is the only way to save our citizens from the sharks. (Can you guess who they think are the sharks?) 

 Others point to the legal system's ability to handle mass-tort litigation, such as the asbestos cases. They argue that even though the court system will be slow, it will work to help sort things out. By combining cases into class actions, this group thinks it will work through the courts without the need for major changes. 

 Personally, I don't think it will make much difference. It will be too late for most small and medium sized businesses or individuals to sue after the fact. The damage will have been done. If the bug has not already stricken my new computer (and Microsoft Outlook) it appears January 1, 2000, will be a Saturday. Consider the facts that will exist that Magical Millennium Weekend. 

 Most businesses will not re-open until Monday, January 3rd. If everything works fine on Monday, no problem. 

 But, if anything terrible has happened, and if some other person or company is legally liable for the damages, what options will be available? Precious few. Why? Even though the courts would be able to handle the number of cases, it will be years before the process would be complete. Can a small or medium sized business wait that long? I think not. 

Locally, the story seems to be that we are not very worried about the problem. Frost Bank included questions about the problem in its semi-annual questionnaire to members of its Executive Forum. The Express-News (Thursday May7, 1998) reported that fifty-nine percent of the business leaders thought the programming problem would not have a negative effect on the economy. Forty-one percent didn't think it was a serious problem. The full article was posted on-line at the http://expressnews.com web site. Maybe the respondents were thinking about all of the business transactions that will be generated for computer programmers and through sales of replacement hardware and consumer goods. 

The FTC

The FDIC 

A sample of the information available on its web page is the definition of what the FDIC means when it asks if something is Year 2000 compliant. 

FDIC Definition of Year 2000 Compliance  

Year 2000 compliant means information technology that accurately processes date/time data (including, but not limited to, calculating, comparing, and sequencing) from, into, and between the years 1999 and 2000 and leap year calculations (Year 2000 is a leap year). 

Furthermore, Year 2000 compliant information technology, when used in combination with other information technology, will accurately process date/time data if the other information technology properly exchanges date/time data with it.

Law Site Bookmark 

 One of the most misunderstood aspects of "the law" is the interplay between decisions in a particular case, prior decisions in similar cases, the written statutes and constitutions. On the Six O'clock News they don't have time to explain how the pieces fit in a one-minute "live from the courthouse steps" shot. 

Indeed, most of us sat through excruciating boring High School civics classes. A very few of us were lucky enough to have teachers like Mrs. Bronstead at Holmes High School back in the dark ages. (Well it was only the 1960's!) She'd bellow, she'd plead, or she would whisper. Whatever it took to make us understand that, "the Civil War was ‘multi-causational.'" I'm not sure that is a word, but none of us will ever forget the lesson that history is made of many pieces that maybe, just maybe, fit together. 

 Rod Borlase has a web-site (http://www.law.uh.edu/guides/) on the University of Houston server. He has posted an article that makes the same point about "the law." His analogy to building a wall by layering the concepts of the corner posts, the core, the facade and the mortar is a very interesting read. (http://www.law.uh.edu/guides/law_wall.html)