Q1. If I send a Mail-Lock message but don't check any of the options in the policy dialog, what are the default policies given to the e-mail and the attachments?

A1. The defaults for the e-mail will be no expiration but the receiver will not be able to print, forward or copy the message body or the attachments.

Q2. If I sent a Mail-Lock message and didn't allow printing, can the receiver do a screen print ( ctl-printscreen, alt-printscreen or shift-printscreen) and print the message and attachments?

A2. If you selected not to allow printing of the message body or attachments then printscreen will not be allowed by the Mail-Lock Reader.

Q3. If I send a Mail-Lock e-mail to someone, what do they have to do to read the e-mail?

A3. As long as they have a Microsoft Windows client, they only need to go to http://www.treasurecoastsoftware.com and download the free Mail-Lock Reader. If they have Microsoft Outlook, they should be able to simply open the e-mail from the receiver's inbox. If the receiver does not have Microsoft Outlook, they will have to save the attachment to disk from the e-mail and then open the attachment by associating the attachment with the Mail-Lock Reader.

Q4. What hardware and software do I need to run Mail-Lock?

A4. If you have a computer that will run Microsoft Windows NT, ME, 98, 2000, XP or 2003 or you are running Microsoft Outlook 2000 SP1 or beyond and you have 4 MB free space, Mail-Lock will run.

Q5. Don't I get Mail-Lock functionality in Windows Server 2003 and Office 2003 Information Rights Management (IRM) for free?

A5. No you don't get Mail-Lock™ functionality with Windows Server 2003 and Office 2003 Information Rights Management (IRM). You definitely don't get anything "for free" with Microsoft Windows Server 2003. You do get some information rights management capabilities with Windows Server 2003 and Office 2003 for the Windows Server 2003 operating environment but it is not easy to use or easy to administer.

Just to stop forwarding of an e-mail in Office 2003 you must establish "permissions" as to who can view and what their permission level is. This takes several steps in Windows/Office 2003. It can be so complicated that Microsoft will offer a Software Developers Kit (SDK). In addition, if you want to include attachments with your Office 2003 e-mail without Mail-Lock™, these attachments must be created and saved with the permissions in Office 2003. Content expiration also takes at least 10 steps plus you must identify specifically who you want to give permissions to. These permissions are a challenge to maintain, change and remember.

In addition, if you have non-Windows Server 2003 and Office 2003 environments (e.g. Windows 2000 or NT or 2002) the IRM of Windows/Office 2003 doesn't work. To use the IRM features you must have Windows 2003 and Office 2003 and you must change the attributes of those documents.

Even though Microsoft's IRM in Windows 2003 is a good step it can be very complicated to maintain. There are 3 components to address that require the input of your administrator:

Server Component - A component of Windows Server 2003 verifies the identities of machines and users. The server is also responsible for issuing certificates and granting users permission to documents via use licenses.

Windows Client Components - The client piece is a collection of DLLs installed on each client computer that wants to access protected content. The RM client components contain the functionality for all the operations needed for a trusted RM application. They are responsible for obtaining all certificates and licenses for a machine from the WRM server and provide an interface to encrypt and decrypt data.

WRM-aware Client Applications-WRM-trusted client applications are responsible for creating content, granting permissions, and enforcing WRM protection. The IRM in Office 2003 will be one of the flagship applications to implement WRM protection. Users can use our WRM feature to select who is allowed to use, edit, and distribute their content.

Ease of use alone makes Microsoft's IRM a bad answer for end user and management usage compared to Mail-Lock™ functionality.

With Mail-Lock, the policies for your protection are determined by you at the time you send the e-mail and are put on the documents that you send to those recipients but nothing changes on your files. Mail-Lock™ makes life a lot simpler, no administration for the end user and management user.

Q6. Does Mail-Lock use international date format for non-US countries?

A6. Mail-Lock shows the date in international format for clients that use non-US versions of Windows.

Q7. What happens to the Mail-Lock e-mail after it expires?

A7. For the sender of the Mail-Lock e-mail the e-mail stays in the senders sent items folder until the sender deletes it. There will be a line through the e-mail in the sent items folder indicating that it has expired for the receivers. It can still be opened, resent and forwarded by the initial sender of the e-mail even after it has expired.

Once the Mail-Lock e-mail has expired, if the receiver is using Outlook there will be a line through the e-mail subject in the inbox folder. If the receiver clicks on this e-mail it will move to the deleted items folder. If the receiver clicks on the expired Mail-Lock e-mail in the deleted items folder, the Mail-Lock e-mail will be permanently deleted.

If the receiver is not using Outlook the e-mail will not open after it has expired and nor will any stored attachments.

Q8. I get the Mail-Lock message “The current user does not have sufficient permissions to view this document?

A8. This message appears when the recipient of an Mail-Lock message has not registered the e-mail address that the sender of the e-mail sent the message to. For example, I send a Mail-Lock message to joesmith@tcs.com and the mail server changes this e-mail to an alias of jsmith@tcs.com. Even though joesmith@tcs.com may appear in the recipient’s e-mail the sender sent it to jsmith@tcs.com and therefore Mail-Lock will not allow for the recipient to view the message.

To solve the problem, go into the Start Menu, select All Programs and then select Mail-Lock and then select Register Mail-Lock Users. Enter all e-mail addresses that you use on this computer, one at a time. After each e-mail address press the ADD button. When you are finished press OK. If this still does not solve the problem, contact the sender of the e-mail and ask what e-mail address he/she sent this to and enter that e-mail address the same way as above.

Note: When you register Mail-Lock Users on your machine, you must re-enter all e-mail addresses.

Q9. When I click on .mlk e-mail and I save the e-mail to my computer, can I, or someone else, forward it to someone else later who was not originally sent this e-mail?

A9. No, the .mlk file is encrypted with the original sender and receiver’s e-mail addresses. This means that if you forward that .mlk file to anyone that was not the original sender or on the original e-mail distribution, they will not be able to decrypt the message.

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