The latest version of the company's Office suite, the 11th since
its launch in 1990, includes this functionality in its Information
Rights Management system. It is already being hyped in the media as
a panacea for e-mail leaks of trade secrets, incriminating opinions
and embarrassing personal exchanges.
However, the e-mail messages will be stored on a sender's
computer and the new functionality will present recipients with an
administrative and regulatory headache if they can neither print
nor save correspondence.
Many organisations have legal obligations to store records, or
disclose records on demand. The new functionality could make
meeting this obligation - or knowing where the responsibilities lie
- something of a nightmare.
