I think we're seeing changes come on two fronts- one is the legal side of
the issue where precedents are being formed that are subsequently used to
determine how to proceed in legal matters, and public employees are ceasing
to use private equipment and accounts to conduct public business.  The
latter just plain makes sense, whether it's an e-mail account, a cell phone,
or any other device, if you're being paid to act on behalf of the public,
the records generated belong to them. 

Even in public settings there is a severe lack of clarity

This case was in 2008, and the 3rd Circuit Court ruled on it, but the
bizarre thing is it wasn't based on the CONTENT of the e-mail at all, it';s
because the lawsuit failed to name the public official directly!

http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2008/07/18/news/7_tracy_080718.txt

This was a pretty bizarre case, in that the city did not (at the time)
provide e-mail accounts for the employees, so they were using personally
owned computers and e-mail accounts while on paid time to conduct business
and involve the city in contractual discussions.

And pretty much everyone remembers this one

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/sarah_palin_email_ruling_allow.html

However following this case, the State enacted a change to their laws
requiring State employees to conduct all official business (done through
e-mail) only on State controlled e-mail systems

This Florida Court ruling about open records and use of personal computers
to conduct business was another one that 'rocked the boat' when it happened

http://www.heraldtribune.com/assets/pdf/SH11884613.PDF

And the list goes on... there are more examples than anyone could shake a
stick at on both sides of this discussion, but I have a feeling the ones in
the original post are going to be used as guidance in more and more cases as
time goes along... and they'll result in changes to policies, laws, and
practices of both employees and employers.

Larry
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