Sending Legal Notices By E-mail

As one might expect, given that its business was internet betting, Sporting Options plc dealt with its customers exclusively by e-mail. When the business failed, the liquidators suggested that it should be OK to send formal notices to those customers by e-mail only. However, the necessary court sanction was not forthcoming.

Is this a case of old-fashioned judges not being cognisant of the realities of the "New Digital Age" ? No, actually it is an example of the limits there are to the efficacy of the new technology. (Are you paying attention, Bertie Ahern ?)

The evidence showed that some attempts by the company at e-mail communication had been sent back and others had been blocked.  Furthermore, although the assumption had been that all customers who placed bets via the internet would have internet access, that did not mean that those customers would retain the same e-mail addresses or would access those addresses regularly for retrieval of emails.

The case is reported in [2004] All ER (D) 30. It is not available on the internet (!). (You will find details on it by Googling, though).