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.