The author of this book is well known in the growing company of computer lawyers and has excellent credentials. The author, therefore, is well aware that the field of computer law is changing so rapidly that it is dangerous to say anything too specific. Thus the author has written a book which is filled with generalities and which poses more questions than it answers. Mylott tries to alert the reader, presumably a computer professional, that much of what he or she deals with can have important legal ramifications. The book covers a wide range of topics, but none in any depth. As one would expect in a short book about a complex subject, some of the content is dangerously incomplete and misleading. The inevitable incompleteness would be easier to take if the author stressed it more and provided additional references. There is no selected bibliography, and there are few references to illustrative cases (none with citations). What one should get out of reading this book is a sense that in many situations computer professionals had best find a good computer lawyer. This moral is not clearly stated, or if it is, not as often as it should be. Indeed, one of the section headings is Write Your Own Contracts, something the legal layperson decidedly ought not to do.

Mylott tries a bit too hard to be “cutesy” at times, but this is a question of style. The legal glossary is too short and the computer glossary seems gratuitous for a book directed at computer-trained persons. This book is quick and superficial reading for computer professionals who want a rapid tour of possible legal issues they might face. In reading it, they must recognize that when they finish they will not be legally competent to do anything but consult a good attorney if they have a legal problem.