Legal Verification of Web Pages?

JavaDuke asks: "I live in Australia and recently purchased a product via the phone based on information that I read over the Internet. Part of that information was a guarantee, '...can be returned as part of our unconditional money back guarantee.' I tried to return the product but was told that I was (just) outside of their '90 day money back guarantee', which was never stated on their guarantee page (which I checked just prior to calling them). The page was changed within 2 hours of my conversation with them to read '...can be returned as part of our 90 day money back guarantee.' Luckily, Google still has the old version cached, but the real problem I'm having is how in the world do I get these pages verified in such a way that they will then stand up in court?"

"Electronic Frontiers Australia is along similar lines, sort of, and do sympathize with my position. Australian Consumer's Association (Choice) aren't too helpful either. The closest thing I've found is a Justice of the Peace, but they only can verify if one (physical) document is an exact (physical) copy of another. Is there anywhere that provides a service that will legally say that a document appeared on a particular site on a particular day and was last modified on such and such a date? Or am I disadvantaged just because I've used the latest technology to read (incorrect) documentation on a product? Is there a need for a service that can independently verify the state of a document as it appears today for future use?"

Comments

What court, for what purpose?

[Brian See]

Like the answer to most legal questions, the answer to your question is probably "it depends".

Caveat: IAAL, but this shouldn't be construed as legal advice. Furthermore, I'm a US lawyer. Consult with a lawyer admitted in your own jurisdiction for actual advice on the laws of Australia (or wherever).

If you're only bringing a consumer suit, a printout of the (dated) Google cache is probably all you'd want to do, since any more would be ludicrously expensive given the amount in controversy.

Under the (US) Federal Rules of Evidence, I don't see any way to make the document self-authenticating. Therefore, you'd have to present testimony that the Google cache page is authentic and accurate. (And the other side could attempt to rebut that testimony.)

I guess it would be pretty cheap to print the cache (which you should definitely do), date-stamp the printout, and swear out a notarized affidavit with the printout attached, stating the date that you got the affidavit.

In a normal civil suit with a sufficient budget for discovery, you could ask the other side to admit that the Google cache is accurate, or that they changed the web page terms and conditions after you purchased your product. If they don't admit it, or willfully lie to you (and you can subsequently prove it), they could be liable for fees and other disciplinary action.

If you had an unlimited case budget, you could even attempt to subpoena Google, or get expert testimony regarding the date that Google cached the page.

Contact google

[Lish]

Quick, before the page gets recached, contact Google about your situation. They might be able to provide you with a copy of the file from the cache and a statement saying "this is when this file was collected" etc. Perhaps it could be notarized?

Here is the Google contact page. If you look under Corporate it gives a real phone number. Good luck!