Bill: There are all kinds of issues and concerns that arise while working in this arena, and privacy is one of the more serious. It becomes especially sticky in this global business climate, particularly in areas where privacy starts to overlap with security -- as in the case of stolen laptops, or when credit card information or social security numbers are being emailed to any and all.

Just as an example, look through the E-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC [PDF], the anti-spam law that regulates electronic communications for the European Union.

This is clearly a specific set of regulations, but they could conceivably overlap with others related to electronic content. How quickly can you tell what's common and what -- if anything -- is in conflict? And don't forget all the things companies have to do with the same electronic content to ensure that it's ready for legal discovery the next time someone files a lawsuit.

This is the thin line that multinationals must often walk: Respecting laws and ethics in diverse business cultures in a shrinking world where there's more content being generated than ever, in more formats than ever.

Really, it's up to the organization to set its own privacy policy, and just because the content is stored properly, it doesn't mean it's available for anyone to find. In fact, the trade-off financially could mean avoiding a multi-billion dollar lawsuit.

David: Anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

Bill: One major development that will affect IT departments -- including those that implement Lotus -- is a set of revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). They introduce a new category of business records described as Electronically Stored Information (ESI) and provide detailed processes that organizations must follow in the event of federal litigation.

Now it's more than just a "good idea" for companies to have complete control of data (both paper-based and electronic) and be able to access it quickly and accurately. This will further drive the demand for Lotus archiving solutions.

Dan Velasco is a Senior Technical Editor for WebSpherePower Magazine and DominoPower Magazine. He's a Sun Certified Java Programmer, Sun Certified Web Component Developer and an IBM Certified Solution Developer for WebSphere Studio V5.0. He's also a Principal CLP Application Developer (R4, R5 and ND6) as well as a CLP System Administrator (R4 and R5). You can reach him via email at dvelasco@webspherepower.com or on the Web at http://DanVelasco.com.