Information Rights Management (IRM)

Information Rights Management (IRM) technology in Microsoft® Office 2003 helps to give organizations and information workers greater control of their sensitive information. IRM is a persistent file-level technology from Microsoft that allows the user to specify permission for who can access and use documents or e-mail messages, and it helps to prevent sensitive information from being printed, forwarded, or copied by unauthorized individuals. Once permission for a document or message has been restricted with this technology, the usage restrictions travel with the document or e-mail message as part of the contents of the file.

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 Note    The ability to create content or e-mail messages with restricted permission using Information Rights Management is available only with the Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 version of the following applications — Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2003, and Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003. IRM is also available in the stand-alone versions of those applications.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/HA011401841033.aspx