A few days ago, Denise Howell of Bag and Baggage wrote about the possibilities of trackback technology for the legal research and the legal profession (Back Linking, Forward Looking). She has a number of brilliant insights on where the Internet is taking legal research.
Yesterday, there was the first example of something that trackback technology would make very simple. As WIRED reports, Howard Bashman's How Appealing blog noted a minor typographical error in a footnote of a 5th Circuit appellate court opinion (Blog to Court: Check Your Facts). The author of the opinion, a reader of Bashman's blog, quickly fixed and released an amended version of the decision.
It's great that the judge who released this decision reads Bashman's blog. But soon there will be too many blogs for anyone interested in the law to read them all. With trackback technology, judges (and others) would easily be able to keep track of the commentary on a decision they've published on the Internet. Thus, even if this particular judge didn't read "How Appealing," he would have been able to note that Bashman had spotted the typo.
This technology is important. More will be published here and don't forget to attend Revenge of the Blog on Nov. 22.