IT question on doc security

[Antonia @limeone.com]

We are populating our on line shop with legal document templates, letters, licences etc. We have been using the full Adobe software but putting in changeable fields, tables, ticks etc is very time consuming. We get a locked semi changeable doc which then needs printing off by the client and at that stage they may want a WORD doc.

I would like the docs to be downloadable immediately and expire if used after the licence ends. Is there any software that can do this without the need for a password to be entered as this will just involve a manual intervention with each sale from what I can see. Ideally the same software or something else would also skew the contents if the main legal bits were altered.

Am I asking too much here? Should we just get on with loading WORD versions?

[dave_n]

Skewing the contents is called 'redacting'....ms have a word plugin for that.
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'after the license ends'?

[awebapart.com]

docs ... expire if used after the licence ends.
Just bear in mind that what you are considering, digital rights management (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management) (DRM), is a can of worms (http://www.drmwatch.com), and an expensive one at that, if you want content that checks in with a central web server each time to see if licenses are valid or expired.

Companies sometimes go to huge lengths and expenses to implement DRM, thinking that it offers them protection. They also make their clients jump through hoops to fit in with their DRM process because of this. But in reality and in most cases the final content can still end up being easily copied by working around the DRM in certain ways.

For instance I've seen music companies invest heavily in creating infrastructures for DRM'd music downloads, causing lots of support issues for their clients, but also allowing the music to be burnt to a normal CD, thus removing any DRM and any protection they had. Even if more sensible precautions and restrictions are made, there are still usually ways around DRM.

Bottom line... if you can see or hear something, you can copy it.

[ken_uk]

Would not take long for a competitor to just retype a new document with your contents in it surely?

[Antonia @limeone.com]

It's not competitors we are concerned about, it's the usability for the client on the PDF option we have now. Paul mentions the DRM as being problematic and I see the point he makes. Seems to me it is easier to have them as Word docs. If someone wants to copy them or share them with a friend then they will do.

Thanks for your input I have thanked both of you.

[rjharrison]

If someone wants to copy them or share them with a friend then they will do.

Something I saw recently was documents (PDF format) which had the purchaser's information embeded in them: eg the header would have "Purchased by Mr. Smith 10/01/2008". They then distributed the document DRM-free to the customer but with this information inside it.

The idea being you wouldn't want to share the document with your name on it (for fear of being "caught" / people knowing you were a baddie).

[Antonia @limeone.com]

That would require on each order a manual intervention for us though as currently the template docs are available via the shop for immediate download.

[dave_n]

the only thing I have used is MS Rights Management Server to accomplish this BUT that is for users on the same active directory....

[IridiumCorp]

The idea being you wouldn't want to share the document with your name on it (for fear of being "caught" / people knowing you were a baddie).

This is exactly what we do. We generate our contracts on the fly and imbed the contractual information into the pdf. Bottom line is that if someone wanted to copy the contract its a simple matter of cut and paste. Saying that most people are not tech savy enough to work out ways around it.

[Antonia @limeone.com]

The main thing we do want to preserve is the ability of the client not to have to print off the doc and also to be able to send over to another party without hassle. From all we hear this would not be possible with protection so we are down to the IP option ie licence terms and enforcement where necessary.

[DavidRyves]

Antonia - I've sent you a PM