I'm sitting here staring at materials for the American Bar Association's Annual Meeting later this week in San Francisco. I don't remember a time when there were more internet-related programs on the schedule. The top of mind issue this year appears to be social media, a technological phenomenon that has seeped into just about every corner of the law.

• 20/20 Vision: The Impact of Technology and Globalization on Ethics for the 21st Century Lawyer
• Justice 12.0—Is There an App for That?
• Ethical Traps in Cyberspace
• Legal Issues Resulting From the Social Media Explosion
• Plain View, Yet Out of Sight: The 9th Circuit Ruling on Electronic Evidence
• Social Networking Sites: Ethically Maximizing the Use of These Powerful Media
• Litigation in the Internet Age—Making Litigation Rules and Procedures Responsive to Today’s Charged Landscape
• Dangerous Litigation for IP Lawyers: Interactive Media and Planning Safe Investigations
• What’s New in Communication Technology Litigation
• Social Media Policies ... The Whys and Whats of Creating Clear Guidelines
• Protecting Your Intellectual Property in the Age of Social Media: Do You Know What is Happening to Your Brand on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs and Other Social Media Sites?
• Practicing Lawyer’s Guide to Social Media  
• The Virtual Law Firm: How to Build Your Practice in an Online World
• Virtual Virtues: Wrestling with the Ethical Dilemmas of an Online Dispute Resolution Practice
• Cyber-Security, Law and Liability—Thieves, Spies and Hostile Armies
• Lions and Tigers and Friends: Beware of the Landmines in the Social Media Sandbox!
• The Digital Revolution and e-Discovery—Transforming the Legal Profession
• Protection Against Third Party Adoption of Trademarks on Social Media  
• Trying High-Profile Cases in a 24/7 "New Media" World
• Deciphering Due Diligence: Tackling The IT Issues That Can Cripple a Business Transaction
• Wake Up Calls or Snooze Alarms: Are Recent Cyber-Security Regulations Giving Birth to Cyber-Fiduciary Duties?
• Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground: Cloud Computing, How In-house Counsel Can Get Ahead of the Clouds

All of this talking is supplemented by numerous small-room presentations on mobile payments, RFID devices, alternative e-service on foreign-based cybersquatters, Twitter for lawyers, advising startups, Google Book Search and digital publishing, federated identity management, financial consumer privacy from an international perspective, electronic banking, a model IP security agreement, smart grid for lawyers, smart grid for clients, post-Bilski patentable subject matter, Hollywood goes virtual, dealing with anonymous internet infringers, and a ton of stuff on e-discovery.

Back in 1996, when I first started attending these events, the Information Superhighway (to use the term of that period) was a one-way street and the leading topics of the day were digital copyright protection, spam, cybersquatting, internet governance, free speech, privacy, internet jurisdiction, online contracts, export controls on encryption, and website linking agreements. With some exceptions, few of these are burning issues anymore. And none of them ever burned as bright as social media.