Amen to Doug's posting:  If you are not local you are probably not running the records properly. 
I agree very much with this. This is why when I set up  This was the sentiment of my clients when they asked for referrals to abstractors outside of the counties we serve. Remote access was not of much concern if the company or county providing the access would stand behind the accuracy. They also wanted local abstractors who would be aware of any differences between in the available data available remotely and that which could only be provided at the courthouse. I set up the Texas Directory of Independent Local Abstractors and Researchers TXDILAR to provide my clients with a directory that would list only those abstractors who lived in or near the counties they served. Because of the expanse and number of Texas Counties this limit was placed at 120 miles.I don't know if any of these abstractors are doing online searches but I do know they at least have the ability to do the searches at the courthouse. They are also more likely to know the differences of what can and cannot be done remotely.

When I looked at the Heineman scam, two of the rural counties that I search were not hit
This is the same situation I found here in Texas. I searhced the offline indexes of about 20 counties that were in my territory and asked other local abstractors to do the same as they visited the other counties. None of the offline counties contained the suspect files. When I went online, I found every county I searched contained one or more. I don't know if this was because Heineman used the online sources to search for victims, if they used the online sources because these could be searched remotely, or if this was just a function of more population in the online counties.

My concerns about "online" access are with the government agencies who allow it more than abstractors who may access it. Many of these agencies do not seem to realize the harm they are causing the citizens of their community. Some also seem unaware the Internet reaches far beyond their jurisdiction and control. I think the disclaimers illustrate this. The counties don't want to take responsibility for accuracy they cannot control and the technology companies don't either. In spite of service providers claims of secure sites hackers readily maneuver in, around and through these sites from anywhere in the world. In the past hackers usually didn't stop at unauthorized access. They would often manipulate the data to suit themselves or even take total control over the system. This is what happened when terrorists hacked into a GIS site and used it to display a grissly beheading of an American citizen. If hackers can do this, imagine if they simply deleated or altered a few hundred or a few thousand releases, deeds or mortgages?

Eventually this would be descovered and it could be corrected from backup files. But who knows how much damage might be done before it was discovered? A single hacker might only redact or change tax liens or judgments filed against him or someone who pays him. Any abstractor accessing the database online would be unaware the documents existed. But abstractor and his client might be held responsible when the error was found if the officials records had been refreshed from backup and showed the missing document.

I have similar concerns regarding the bulk transfer of the public records to outside parties for commercial use. In Florida, the laws were changed to allow their citizens to have sensitive information redacted from the online records. Governor Jeb Bush himself availed himself of this law to have his and his wife's social security number redacted from the online record displayed in the image of a deed. But this redaction only applies to the online records as displayed by the county. It had no effect on the hundreds of copies that have been bought in bulk, aggregated, for display and sale over the Webb.

The solution seems very simple to me. Remote access can be allowed but it must be controlled within the jurisdiction. Is not possible to control digitized images displayed over the Internet or sold in bulk. Once they are released in bulk this way, they are gone forever. The county loses revenue, professionals lose the accurate and responsible source provided by the county, and their citizens lose their identity and security.