Public outcry erupted last year in response to Judge Zobel's announcement. British tabloid newspapers described the move as "bizarre" while campaigners for Louise Woodward accused the judge of cowardice.

News organisations panicked that an Internet logjam would prevent access to the judge's ruling. Even when they were promised they would be notified of the verdict by e-mail, many still worried they might receive a fake message.

The Massachusetts Superior Court included a pre-determined phrase to show the message was genuine, and despite a power failure the full text of the ruling was received within about an hour of the announcement.

Web of 'Chinese whispers'

Many legal experts hailed Judge Zobel's decision as historic. But to much of the traditional media and the public, the Web can seem a scary place - a labyrinth of electronic tunnels transmitting rumours, and hiding illicit activities and obsessions.

Their fears are not altogether unfounded.

Last year, the Internet made headlines across the world as the livelihood of the notorious Heaven's Gate cult, whose members committed mass suicide in March, and the transmitter of rumours about military plots to blow up TWA Flight 800 and to destroy Zairians with Ebola virus supposedly engineered in US government labs.

But the Internet has also been hailed as the ultimate world community, albeit an electronic one. The Woodward case is a prime example. Campaigners for Woodward have embraced the Net as a way of stirring up interest in the case around the world.

There are numerous other examples. Following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, mourners all over the world turned to the Net not only for up-to-date information but to express their sympathy.

The Web also has been a prime source of information about the Pathfinder exploration of Mars. Nasa websites, which logged hundreds of millions of hits in the first month alone, provided photos of the Pathfinder as well as 3-D panoramas of the Mars landscape, interviews with NASA engineers, live video and audio feeds, and a virtual reality journey on Mars.

Net can be too popular at times

At times, however, the Net is a victim of its own success. Plans to release the verdict on only one website - Lawyers Weekly - were abandoned when it was swamped.

A new list of a dozen sites was further expanded to 26, but those sites still slowed to a crawl or crashed altogether when the verdict was released.

Nonetheless, Judge Zobel's decision was a sign of the times.

Paper copies of the decision were not readily available, except to lawyers in the case. This is believed to be the first time that media outlets were told that they would not be able to get a hard copy of the decision.

Denise Caruso, technology columnist for the New York Times, said the judge's idea was a natural progression made possible by new technology.