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COMPANY
What is Registered E-mail?
The Registered E-mailŪ services provide legal and
verifiable evidence of the content of both e-mail and
attachments, along with the time any e-mail was sent and
received by anyone, anywhere in the world. The service
is designed to protect the sender in those instances
where the delivery, content or time of an e-mail may be
challenged after the fact, in addition to enhancing
efficiency and cost-savings. Think of it as a tool that
can save you time, money, and headaches!
How does the Registered
E-mailŪ service work, in basic terms?
Just as a written signature confirms delivery of FedExŪ,
a digitally recorded server-to-server dialogue of
message acceptance is folded into a Registered Receipt™
e-mail and automatically returned to the sender to
confirm delivery and content of the sent Registered
E-mailŪ message, without the need for the recipient to
take any compliant action. The Registered Receipt™
e-mail is a durable, verifiable, self-contained record
of the entire e-mail transaction. It can be used as a
verification tool to re-construct the original e-mail
content and attachments as needed by the sender. Neither
RPostŪ nor any third party stores a copy of the e-mail,
receipt, or transmission information. The Registered
Receipt™ e-mail is the sole official record of the
Registered E-mailŪ transaction and its safekeeping is
the responsibility of the sender. (Note: neither
hard-copy letters nor FedExŪ, etc. can provide proof of
the content transmitted, so RPostŪ provides an even
higher level of delivery protection and confirmation.)
Can you list some of the
companies that use Registered E-mailŪ services?
RPost has users across various business lines. For
instance, United States Government Accountability Office
(arm of Congress), the US Bureau of the Census within
the United States Department of Commerce, Greenberg
Traurig LLP (global law firm), Watson Wyatt (global
professional firm); Macquarie Bank (global financial
services company), and Bombardier (global manufacturer),
to name just a few.
How would you describe
RPost in 80 words?
RPost, the leader in managed outbound messaging with its
flagship Registered E-mailŪ services, enable users to
send e-mail with proof of delivery – admissible evidence
of e-mail content and time sent and received. Advanced
services include end-to-end encryption, PDF conversion,
information leak protection, e-contracting and
e-signing, combined into one tool offered at a flat per
e-mail price which is about the cost of a postage stamp.
RPost services have been tested, accredited and are used
daily by the U.S. federal government.
How would you describe
RPost in 100 words?
RPostŪ has set the global standard for accountability in
electronic business communications. Its suite of
Registered E-mailŪ services provide the sender of e-mail
with legal and verifiable evidence of the content and
official time any e-mail is sent and received by anyone,
anywhere in the world. RPostŪ tools permit users in
countries around the world to do more, better, faster
and at lower cost; with simple-to-use functionality.
RPost’s patented services include an integrated set of
eContracting, e-signature, security and
privacy/encryption tools and are used daily by
government, enterprise, as well as small business users.
How would you describe
RPost in 150 words?
RPostŪ has set the global standard for Legal Proof™ for
e-mail with a suite of managed outbound messaging
services. At its core, RPost's patented Registered
E-mailŪ services provide the sender with legally valid
evidence of precisely what e-mail content and
attachments were sent and received, by whom and when.
RPost services include an integrated set of eContracting,
e-signature, security and privacy/encryption tools.
RPost has strategic business relationships with leading
technology and service providers to provide RPost
services to their existing clients, including: Pitney
Bowes, Postini, Symantec, AT&T, Sprint, Qwest, Orange (FranceTel)
and BTInfonet (BritishTel), among others.
Available in five languages, RPost Registered E-mailŪ
services are also used daily by the United States
Government and have been endorsed and marketed by many
of the influential bar associations in the United
States. Headquartered in Los Angeles, RPost has offices
in Washington D.C., San Diego and worldwide.
USES Back
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What specific types of
e-mails need to be sent as Registered E-mail messages?
The specific uses of the service depend upon the
industry or department within a company with whom you
are working. For some industry-specific examples, visit
http://www.rpost.com/site/value/value_ind_general.htm.
In general, however, the basic questions you should ask
about an e-mail are:
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Does it record a business
activity or event?
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Does it have business, legal,
regulatory, historic value?
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Do you need it to prove a
transaction, communication or notification did or
did not occur?
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Do you need it to identify who
participated in an event or had knowledge of the
event? (address lines & Cc, Bcc important?)
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Would you retain it in paper
form?
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Does it matter if the original
message is altered or misquoted in any way?
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Does it commit the sender and/or
company to any future obligation?
If the answer is “yes” to any of the above, then you
should be taking the necessary steps to record and
protect these important e-mail transactions with
Registered E-mailŪ services.
How often do typical users
send Registered E-mailŪ messages?
Usage patterns are completely dependant upon the task
for which they are employed. Special notices,
announcements, contract changes, legal filings,
reporting requirements, commitment letters, etc. can
occur on an ad hoc basis or be recurring electronic
messages sent routinely to a wide customer base or to
targeted individuals. RPost has some users who send only
a few Registered E-mail messages per month, per week, or
per day, while others send a large amount every day.
Where are Registered
E-mailŪ services being used most often within the
private sector?
Business executives and managers, corporate lawyers,
procurement managers, contracts managers, asset,
logistics & facilities managers, sales and client
relationship managers, automated and policy driven
processes, compliance & risk managers, and supply-chain
managers are the typical functional areas where RPost’s
Registered E-mailŪ service generally is employed. RPost
also see use by human resource professionals for
sensitive, action-oriented, official electronic
notifications to employees within an organization where
proof of sending and receipt is critical.
If my employees have the ‘Send Registered’ button, I am
afraid that they will default to sending everything as
Registered E-mail messages. How do I control the usage?
This is a common fear, but is easily addressed. RPost
can work with employers in devising appropriate training
programs to sensitize them to proper usage and until the
proper comfort level is attained, managers easily can
monitor employee usage rates as RPost gives monthly
reports to the sender and summary reports to the company
manager to see firm-wide usage. The Registered E-mail
service is a serious business tool and the employee
quickly comes to appreciate that fact, knowing that the
service provides the sender and the company with a
permanent record in the event of a subsequent
dispute. The employee is reluctant to abuse the
Registered E-mail service knowing that it creates an
official record that is capable of review. With that in
mind reports can be customized to be more frequent if
necessary.
COST Back
to top
Is Registered E-mail a
software purchase or a service?
RPost services are offered and structured to avoid most
of the traditional software purchase issues, such as
large up front investments, maintenance fees, etc. Users
have found the simplest way to purchase RPost service is
through a pre-paid pack of Registered E-mail units. This
is similar to purchasing a pack of postage stamps from
the post office. No risk, minimal investment, no fixed
cost, simply pennies per use, with all costs fully
loaded into the price per use.
How much does RPost cost?
See Individual and Corporate price sheets. In general,
the price is comparable to the cost of a postage stamp
per use and generally the greater the usage volume, the
less cost per Registered E-mail message sent.
Why
do Registered E-mail units have to expire at the end of
12 months?
Like a gift card, phone card and other items where you pre-pay for
units of a service, for accounting purposes, RPost
limits the block or pack of Registered E-mail units to
one year.
Are there any
hidden charges or additional costs such as an annual
fee?
No. As an individual user, the sender is billed a $19.95 annual
account maintenance, support and software upgrade
charge. For the corporate user, that fee is already
included in the pack or block of e-mail units with no
set-up fee, license fee, monthly fee or annual fee.
Why should I
pay for the service, when e-mail is supposed to be free?
E-mail has evolved into a serious business tool, and today, due to
various abuses, it has come under more intense scrutiny,
resulting in some regulatory safeguards for certain
industries. New U.S. federal e-discovery rules went
into effect on December 1, 2006, making it critical for
companies and professionals to protect themselves and
enhance accountability for their important outbound
e-mail. There are cases that have shown non-compliance
with regulations, e-discovery costs and the cost of
defending against or losing a lawsuit regarding e-mail
challenges can run into thousands, millions and in a few
occasions, billions of dollars. Given the risk of
suffering such losses, it is wise to both defend oneself
as best possible with appropriate systems and procedures
and worth the insignificant cost of incorporating the
safeguard of the RPost Registered E-mail service.
If I send an e-mail to one person and CC 99 others in the same
e-mail am I charged for one e-mail or one hundred
e-mails?
The Registered E-mail service provides proof of sending,
delivery, content and time for all addresses where the
e-mail was directed regardless of the field location of
the e-mail address - To, Cc or Bcc. However, the sender
is returned only one Registered Receipt regardless of
how many addresses the e-mail was sent to.
Because RPost gives the proof for each address, like
physical postage, it costs one Registered E-mail unit
per address, similar to one postage stamp per recipient
address.
SERVICE VALUE Back
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Why do I need
the Registered E-mailŪ service?
The Registered E-mail service serves as an important safeguard
against legal liability associated with e-discovery and
e-mail message disputes. In the case of a dispute over
content, timing, sending or receiving of an e-mail,
today’s standard e-mail systems offer little proof or
protection for the e-mail sender. With two clicks of
the mouse, the recipient (or sender) could change
anything in a standard e-mail (and attachments) and
claim it to be the original e-mail after-the-fact.
Also, anyone can easily delete an e-mail and claim it
was never received, drag it into a “sent” folder without
sending, or alter the time of delivery if the document
was time-sensitive.
Registered E-mail services, on the other hand, protect the sender
with verifiable proof of message delivery, content and
time, and can detect if a message has been tampered with
– admissible evidence in
case of a future challenge.
Doesn’t my
archiving system already provide proof of my e-mail
messages?
The problem
with an archive is
that it only tells half the story…what you may have
sent, and NOT what was not received. With a
traditional archive, the sender has no verifiable proof
of either the delivery or content of the e-mail or
attachments!
How is
Registered E-mail different than my Outlook Read
Receipts?
Outlook Read Receipts:
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are simple text
e-mails that can be easily forged, and therefore
cannot verify message delivery, content, or time.
Unlike RPost Registered Receipt e-mails, they cannot
be used to authenticate the original message.
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only work if both the
sender and receiver have Outlook. Registered E-mail
works with any global internet e-mail address.
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rely on the receiver
to take action, as the receipts are only generated
if the receiver actually clicks on the pop-up
request for a Read Receipt or has their tracking
option setting to do so. The RPost system does not
require recipient response or interaction in any way
to gather delivery information.
Please view a side-by-side Outlook-RPost chart:
http://www.rpost.com/partners/central/rpost_v_outlook.htm
Do I need
Registered E-mail if I already use encryption services?
While encryption satisfies the need for tamper-proof security in
the transmission of important messages, it still leaves
the sender vulnerable to the subsequent challenges that
might arise relative to the actual sending and receiving
of that encrypted message. As a general rule of thumb,
if the message is important enough to encrypt, it
definitely should be protected further by sending it as
a Registered E-mail message so the sender has a record
of content and time received. Coincidentally, the
Registered E-mail service has many features, including
end-to-end encryption. RPost combines the Registered
E-mail service with an option to send with a secure
encryption service. The feature is simple to use as a
sender and does not require the receiver to have any
special software or certificates. Even if the receiver
chooses not to open the encrypted message the sender
retains proof the message was sent, delivered, proof of
content and time and that the message was received
encrypted, fulfilling any requirement or notification.
Such expanded features also allow the recipient to reply
to the original sender for secure contracting and to
record negotiations where the recipient has agreed to
execute a contract electronically and likewise is in
need of the same protections afforded the sender.
How would I
incorporate Registered E-mail services into my workflow?
Because the Registered E-mail service is simple to install, simple
to deploy and simple to use, the company can look at
where it needs to comply with regulations including
sending notifications, archive policies and where the
business can be streamlined to cut costs and reduce risk
with added accountability. It is best to start with a
few policies where the employees know when it is
mandatory to send a Registered E-mail message, when it
is a good idea to send a Registered E-mail message and
when it is not necessary.
How does Registered E-mail service compare with E-Fax,
and other online faxing programs which provide delivery
confirmation for the sender?
A fax program provides only simple reports that are not
tamper-detectable, not verifiable and do not prove
content. Registered E-mail services replace faxes as a
more simple and recipient agnostic medium as some E-Fax
messages cannot be opened and read without the proper
software installation. In addition, RPost Registered
E-mail services include over ten high-value features
like zip compression, encryption, electronic
contracting, electronic signatures, PDF conversion, and
many more that far surpass any benefits of E-Fax.
Aren’t I better off using FedEx to send an important
document or notification? Doesn’t FedEx provide more
assurance it will be delivered right to recipient, since
e-mails often get buried in the Inbox?
With the Registered E-mail service, the sender gets the
information to the recipient at the speed of e-mail,
with the cost of about a postage stamp and with more
accountability than FedEx because the RPost user can
prove content in addition to sending, delivery and
official time sent and received. As an aside, there are
many instances where mail packages are sent with no
content just to give the impression of compliance, such
as empty registered tax return envelopes sent to federal
and state taxing authorities. Furthermore, the FedEx
receipt will show that someone within an office,
apartment, etc. signed for the delivery but that is not
always the recipient and it therefore presumed that the
package was subsequently delivered to the addressee.
However, for legal proof of delivery under the
electronic statutes, RPost Registered E-mail complies
with the
US Federal E-Sign laws and the state version, the
Uniform Electronic Transmission Act (UETA) legal proof
of delivery where legal delivery stems from proof of the
server-to- server transmittal and acceptance – the core
value of the automatically returned Registered Receipt
e-mail record.
SERVICE FEATURES Back
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What specifically are the
suite of services included within the Registered E-mailŪ
service menu?
Protect the Sender
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Data Leak Prevention
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Extra Privacy
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Increased Efficiency
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Proof of delivery
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Proof of content
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Proof of authorship
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Proof of time received
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PDF Conversion for MS Office attachments
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Metadata cleaning
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Confidential use of Registered E-mail
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End-to-end encryption
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Password protection for PDF conversion
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·
Electronic contracting
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Electronic signature
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Create a record for the receiver
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For a detailed description of each feature, please
visit:
http://www.rpost.com/partners/central/1service_features[1].htm
Is there a way that email recipients can verify the
contents of an e-mail as being correct and 'un-changed'
i.e. to verify the integrity of the message?
Yes. The RPost Digital Seal service allows the sender
to electronically sign and time stamp an e-mail. This
reduces e-mail phishing and hoaxes and makes it possible
for the receiver to authenticate and verify the e-mail
authorship (the sender) as well as the original content
of e-mail and attachments (avoiding misrepresentation).
TECHNOLOGY: GENERAL
Back to top
Is the RPost
technology patented?
Yes. The RPostŪ software and systems are unique and have over
twenty patents that are pending with two issued,
covering thirty-nine countries.
Will RPost
technology work with our current software workflow
systems?
Any e-mail user can send a Registered E-mail message. The way the
message is sent depends on the specific software or
e-mail service the sender uses. Registered E-mail works
with most other e-mail and workflow software seamlessly.
How does RPost
deal with spam filters?
RPost
Registered E-mail messages should not be flagged as spam
or as containing a virus any more than a regular
e-mail. In fact, through many of our partnerships,
RPost is actively becoming ‘white-listed’ with many of
the large corporate ISPs, Managed Service Providers and
E-mail Service Providers. In the event that a message is
rejected by a spam filter outright, the Registered
Receipt e-mail will indicate “Delivery Failure.” If a
message is delivered but classified as spam by the
filter, the Registered Receipt e-mail will indicate
“Delivered to Mail Server.” In this case, the Receipt
enables the sender to retain proof of delivery for that
e-mail. This is important if the sender needs evidence
that they fulfilled their requirement to send a
notification.
Can RPost tell me 100% of the time if a Registered E-mail message
was opened?
No. There is no system in the world (physical or
electronic) that can tell if a package or e-mail has
been opened 100% of the time, which is why the laws say
you just need to prove delivery. The RPost system uses a
variety of methods to establish the delivery status of
Registered E-mail messages, and the ability to prove
whether the message was opened depends on the technical
configuration of the recipient environment. RPost can
prove a message was opened in many but not all cases.
What is a
Registered E-mail “unit”?
Like physical postage which charges by the number of packages and
weight, a Registered E-mail unit is defined as one
recipient address per Megabyte (MB). For example, one
Registered E-mail message sent to two addresses is two
units (To, Cc or Bcc). One e-mail sent to one address
with an attachment of 2 MB is two units.
What if the recipient’s server is programmed not to send
acknowledgements or receipts?
The Registered E-mail service uses standard SMTP protocol and a
proprietary process to determine if a message was
delivered; what level of delivery took place, or if
there was a failure due to a bad address, the receiver’s
network being down or their mailbox full. This is done
fully independent of the receiver’s system being
configured or not configured a certain way. Therefore,
the opted “send no acknowledgement” has no impact on the
Registered Receipt e-mail being automatically returned
to the sender.
Is RPost a
potential risk to the security of the network?
No.
RPost uses standard SMTP protocol at no risk to the
security of a network.
What is the
RPost Service Availability?
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RPost networks are
designed with availability as a core objective along
with security, performance and scalability.
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The servers and
networks employ both local and geographic redundancy
and utilize both load balancing and failover
techniques.
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The RPost system has
been accredited for sensitive and critical U.S.
Government communications.
TECHNOLOGY: REGISTERED RECEIPT Back
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What is a Registered
Receipt e-mail?
For each Registered E-mail message sent, RPost returns a Registered
Receipt e-mail to the sender which contains a digital
snapshot of the entire e-mail transaction in case of a
subsequent dispute. This includes the ability to verify
after-the-fact:
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Proof that the e-mail
was delivered, with an official time stamps of
sending and receiving.
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Proof of the e-mail
content sent and received, including any
attachments.
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A mechanism to verify
the integrity of the receipt and reconstruct the
original e-mail content and attachments.
Note: Caution users to be sure to hold on to Registered
Receipt e-mails in electronic format (do not print and
delete as this negates the strength of the Registered
Receipt e-mail).
How do I use
the Registered Receipt e-mail as verifiable proof?
If there is ever a dispute regarding the delivery or content of the
message or attachment, the receipt can be authenticated
by simply forwarding it to the RPost verification
address located on the receipt. The RPost system
unlocks the encrypted attachment, regenerates digital
fingerprints and hashing data to prove its integrity,
and sends the original back to the person who submitted
the receipt for verification. The Registered Receipt
e-mail is very durable, meaning that it can be forwarded
to any disputing party and they can authenticate the
receipt. It can even be saved onto CD or keychain
micro-drive and brought to an arbitrator for
authentication. In every case, the RPost system will
regenerate the original e-mail and all attachments if
authentic, but otherwise deliver a notice that the
e-mail had been tampered subsequently and no longer
valid where that is determined to be the case.
What if I need to verify
my e-mail years from now?
As long as you keep a digital copy of the Registered
Receipt e-mail in Message Format, you can use it to
verify the e-mail at anytime and as many times as
necessary.
How and when do I receive
my Registered Receipt e-mail?
You will automatically receive the Registered Receipt
e-mail in your e-mail inbox after a few minutes or hours
- but within one business day of sending -- depending on
such factors as the receivers' system, if there is a
delivery failure (mailbox full, wrong address, etc.), or
if there was a large number of recipients in the address
field of the original e-mail. The Registered Receipt
e-mail is the only permanent record you will receive
detailing the status of your sent e-mail, - proof of
its delivery and its content. If desired, RPost can send
the sender a duplicate which can be archived in a master
back-up system for future verification.
Why does it
take a long time to get the Registered Receipt e-mail
back?
The time it takes to receive the Registered Receipt e-mail depends
on the receiver’s system and the number of addresses
included in the delivery field. It is typically sent
within a half an hour to a few hours with a maximum of
six hours. As a place holder, the RPost system gives
the sender an immediate Acknowledgement™ e-mail as
confirmation that the sender’s Registered E-mail message
actually left their outbound server, arrived at RPost
and is in processing. Since RPost wants to report the
highest level of delivery available within a reasonable
amount of time, often more time is required to glean
sufficient delivery information and those operating
parameters are set based upon more than seven years of
delivery statistics.
How does RPost prove if a
Registered Receipt e-mail has or has not been tampered
with?
RPost Registered Receipt™ e-mail are electronically
sealed and tamper detectable documents and use
sophisticated encryption techniques. When the Registered
Receipt e-mail is forwarded to the RPost Registration
System, the RPost Digital Seal™ marks are compared to
the ones that are instantly regenerated for
verification. RPost receipts incorporate two forms of
encryption algorithms, the SHA-1 hash and Triple DES
algorithm. RPost uses encryption components which are
based on open cryptographic standards - the algorithms
defined by these standards are the most widely used in
the world today, and are counted among the strongest
available in the commercial sector. They are tested for
compliance with these standards by independent
laboratories, and validated by the United States
Government. In short, if the two sets of originally
recorded digital fingerprints do not line up during the
verification process, the system knows that something
has been altered, but not the specific word,
punctuation, etc. that was altered – hence,
“tamper-detectable” as opposed to “tamper-proof” for
unencrypted Registered E-mail messages.
What is the difference
among the four possible delivery status levels on the
Registered Receipt e-mail?
There are four levels of delivery reported in the
Registered Receipt e-mail: The difference amongst the
three "delivered" dispositions has to do with how much
information RPost can elicit about the delivery to
determine the status.
1. DELIVERY FAILURE:
This might occur if there is an e-mail address error or
the receiver's mailbox is full, among other reasons.
2. DELIVERED TO MAIL SERVER:
This is the minimum requirement for a document to be
deemed as legally delivered according to government
definitions. When the receiver's authorized electronic
agent signs the message, RPost deems it delivered. In
parallel, with courier or overnight service, certified
or registered mail, a document is deemed delivered when
the receiver's authorized agent (i.e. mailroom clerk,
receptionist) signs for the document. The E-Sign and
similar acts give e-mail transmissions equal status to
paper transmissions, in most circumstances.
3. DELIVERED TO MAILBOX:
This means that the RPost System is certain that the
e-mail was accepted by the recipient’s agent and that
agent placed that e-mail in the recipient’s mailbox. A
physical mail analogy is your assistant signing for a
delivery and putting it on your desk.
4. OPENED:
This means the recipient, or a designee with access to
their e-mail, opened that e-mail. A physical mail
analogy is when you sign for a package yourself. If the
RPost system can detect “Opening” with confidence after
the Registered Receipt™ e-mail is returned to the
sender, then the RPost system will return a follow-on
Open Receipt™ e-mail at the point in time that the
e-mail was detected to have been opened.
It is important to note that if the Registered Receipt
e-mail does not indicate “Opening,” that does not
necessarily mean the e-mail was not “Opened”. It means
the e-mail was either not opened or the system could not
determine with confidence that the e-mail was opened. No
system can determine “Opening” all of the time.
What does UTC mean in the
time field on the Delivery Status of the Registered
Receipt e-mail?
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) - the new standard
world time, is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) less daylight
savings. UTC uses a 24-hour system of time notation. To
convert from UTC to your local time you need to add or
subtract hours, based on daylight savings. For example,
Eastern Standard Time subtract 5 hours from UTC, Pacific
Standard Time subtract 8 hours from UTC (with daylight
savings).
What is the history/audit
trail area in the Registered Receipt e-mail?
It records the Internet delivery history, the dialog
between the recipient's mail server and the RPost
Registration Systems.
What are the three
attachments on the Registered Receipt e-mail?
RPost does not keep any e-mail messages or attachments
on the RPost Registration Systems. All of the data
required to reconstruct and validate the original
e-mail, attachments, and transaction information is is
compressed into a file, attached to the Registered
Receipt e-mail and returned to the sender
authentication-ready for use in case of a dispute. The
second attachment is an HTML version of the Registered
Receipt e-mail for people who receive it in Plain Text
and want to view it in their browser. The third
attachment is a digital fingerprint needed to validate
and re-construct the original e-mail message in the
event of a dispute. The receipt and attachments
associated must remain together for verification
purposes.
How should we
archive Registered Receipt e-mail?
The core value
of the Registered E-mail service resides in the
Registered Receipt e-mail, so it is important to archive
these to protect the sender and the company in the event
of a future event. In general, the company can set up a
separate e-mail address like
receipts@company.com
and the RPost software, company server, partner or RPost
can send a copy of the receipts to that address. The
specifics depend on the user or company environment.
How long does
RPost store the Registered Receipt e-mail?
RPost does NOT store the Registered Receipt e-mail or your e-mail
message content or attachments. Because RPost does not
store the information on its network (to avoid
possession of discoverable information) the original
content has to be stored by the e-mail sender in the
form of the Registered Receipt e-mail.
TECHNOLOGY: SENDING & RECEIVING Back
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Does sending Registered
E-mail messages require additional software on our
servers?
No. Most common installations of Registered E-mailŪ
service work by adding the light Send (R)egistered™
software add-in into your mail client (desktop e-mail
program) that routes only e-mail that you want to be
sent "Registered" through the RPost Registration
Networks. The RPost System™ does not store e-mail. There
are separate server side solutions that provide an
organization or its individuals the ability to send
Registered E-mailŪ messages based upon the preference of
the sender's organization.
Can I send a Registered
E-mail message to web-based e-mail programs?
Yes. Receivers of Registered E-mailŪ messages are able
to view the message and attachments using any e-mail
service including web based e-mail service such as AOL,
MSN, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Lycos Mail. Registered
E-mailŪ services prove legal delivery to any Internet
e-mail address. This is done with no uploads, downloads,
links or passwords for the recipient. All a receiver
needs is a valid e-mail address.
Can I send a Registered
E-mail messages with PDF, JPG or MVI files as
attachments?
Yes. Registered E-mailŪ services support any and all
attachments that your e-mail program normally allows and
requires no extra steps to upload or download the
attachment.
Does the service function
the same with either Outlook Editor or Word Editor?
There are subtle cosmetic and functional differences
when using Outlook Editor versus Word Editor. These
subtleties differ by version of Outlook 2000 or XP and
do not impact core service functionality. For details,
contact RPost (info@rpost.com)
with the specific questions and the version of Outlook
as well as the type of Mail Editor.
Can I send Registered
E-mail messages to more than one person with the same
e-mail message by using the CC or BCC fields? Is there a
maximum limit on the number of addresses?
Yes. Registered E-mailŪ messages can be sent to many
recipients in the To, Cc and Bcc field as your e-mail
program normally allows. The sender will receive only
one Delivery Receipt for all recipients that are
associated with that e-mail message and each recipient's
delivery status will have a row in the Delivery Status
section. Note, RPost does limit the number of recipients
in an e-mail to 100, to protect against abuse. For
special volume mailing installations, contact RPost (info@rpost.com).
What is the maximum capacity for attachments?
The default Registered E-mail service has an e-mail
capacity of 20 MB per Registered E-mail message. This
can be adjusted on a per-company basis.
Can I send Registered
E-mail messages internationally?
Yes. Registered E-mailŪ messages can be sent to any
valid e-mail address, regardless of location of
receiver.
Does RPost store my e-mail
message?
No. RPost does not store any e-mail or components of any
e-mail. RPost encrypts, compresses and attaches to the
Delivery Receipt all of the data needed to authenticate
the Delivery Receipt, transmission information, and
re-present an authenticated original e-mail body with
attachments.
Why do I get an
Acknowledgement™ e-mail?
As soon as the RPost Registration Systems induct an
e-mail message for processing, the sender receives an
Acknowledgment e-mail returned to their inbox. The
Acknowledgement e-mail has an official time seal, which
provides proof of sending as a placeholder until the
Delivery Receipt arrives. It also serves to alert the
sender that the e-mail has made it out of their internal
mail system, and is on its way to the intended
recipient. The Acknowledgement e-mail is similar to the
receipt that the FedEx carrier gives to the sender after
taking a package.
What if I do not get an
Acknowledgement e-mail? How can I tell the e-mail has
been sent?
The Acknowledgement e-mail arrives in the sender's inbox
as soon as the e-mail has been inducted into the RPost
Registration System for processing. If the
Acknowledgement does not arrive within several minutes
of sending the Registered E-mailŪ message, contact your
IT director. In general, if you do not get an
Acknowledgement e-mail, your Registered E-mailŪ message
has not reached the RPost Registration System and
therefore will not be delivered. Note that in some
installations, the sender can turn off the
Acknowledgement e-mail receipt.
Is there a way to sort my
bill so I can easily determine and charge Registered
E-mail units directed to, for example, clients and
vendors?
RPost allows the use of a company's client code
accounting system to allocate costs of the Registered
E-mail message to their clients or vendors. Insert an
optional code in the Client Code field in the dialog box
that pops up after you press Send (R)egistered™ to have
a specific tag associated with that Registered E-mail
receipt. The client code is transparent to the receiver
of the Registered E-mail message.
How is Registered E-mailŪ
different from Sender Authentication schemes?
To be clear, RPostŪ Registered E-mailŪ service is
completely different from various e-mail authentication
systems that have been proposed by a number of e-mail
providers in an effort to produce an Internet standard
for e-mail "sender authentication". The goal with these
sender authentication plans have been to increase trust
for the e-mail recipient and reduce the threat of
spoofing and phishing. DKIM is an example of a proposed
solution. DKIM stores public keys in DNS and digitally
signs e-mails on a domain basis. In general, these
e-mail authentication systems provide value in allowing
message recipients to view e-mail with a greater degree
of trust and hold sending domains more accountable.
By contrast, Registered E-mailŪ services protect the
sender by providing a verifiable record of the e-mail
delivery and the content for the sender. Sender
authentication systems do not offer such protection to
the sender. In fact, the two systems complement each
other rather than compete.
Does the recipient of a
Registered E-mail message need any special software?
No. The recipient only needs a valid e-mail address.
COMPLIANCE, LEGAL ISSUES Back
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What if the
Registered E-mail message is sent to a wrong name, but
the correct domain? Would it still be legally delivered
(according to RPost) even though the recipient may never
see it?
As all e-mail
users know, e-mail addresses sometimes are not typed
correctly. If the sender mistypes an e-mail address the
Registered Receipt may say that it was delivered (if the
address is valid) or there may be a delivery failure (if
the address does not exist). In both cases, the sender
did not e-mail the correct person so the e-mail was not
legally delivered. This is similar to a mail package
sent to the wrong apartment number but still signed as
delivered. It is legally meaningless. The Registered
Receipt e-mail will indicate delivery (of failure) to
this wrong address.
Is an electronic signature as legally binding as a
handwritten signature?
Yes, according to the
U.S. Federal E-Sign laws and the state version: the
Uniform Electronic Transmission Act (UETA).
RPost Registered E-mail services comply with these laws. With the
features “Digital Seal”, “Register Reply” and
“eContracting” the sender can add their signature and
even allow the receiver to reply back with a signed
e-mail even though they don’t subscribe to the RPost
service. Visit
http://www.rpost.com/partners/central/1service_features[1].htm
for more details.
How does Registered E-mail
fit within the area of "compliance"?
Registered E-mailŪ services allow the sender to prove
that they have complied with the bye law, contractual,
or regulated notification provision. While using USPS
first class mail, the presumption of “delivery” is
evidenced where you have a record of sending; however,
under the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, e-mail
"delivery" is evidenced when the recipient's agent
(their mail server) has accepted the entire data
transmission. Therefore, under electronic statutes, the
burden is on the sender to prove "receipt" of the
e-mail, which is one of the key features of the RPostŪ
system.
Further, provisions of electronic law and recent court
decisions underscore the fact that e-business systems
require proper transaction documentation. Often there is
a requirement for a reliable recordkeeping management
system that can record, retrieve and authenticate
electronic messages involving important business
communications and transactions (both content of e-mail
and attachments, and official time sent and received).
The RPostŪ Registered Receipt™ e-mail is a simple,
elegant solution to record retention and proof of
compliance with notification requirements.
Does RPost deal with the
rules of privacy laws if non-public information is
included in a Registered E-mail message?
RPost does not a store a copy of the Registered E-mail
message, so this does not apply.
Would Registered E-mailŪ
messages stand up in court? Has the Registered Receipt
e-mail been tested in court?
Registered E-mailŪ messages hold far greater evidential
weight than traditional mail, courier, fax, or e-mail,
and therefore, should provide the sender with protection
that will stand up to scrutiny in any dispute resolution
situation.
From the perspective of a mediator, arbitrator, or
judicial officer, one looks first at the evidentiary
value of what is submitted in gauging its
trustworthiness. Evidential weight is about reducing
uncertainty surrounding the evidence. The party with the
greater evidential weight will win in most cases, or at
least mitigate its liability. RPost is not aware of
instances where Registered E-mail messages have or have
not withstood court challenge as customers would not
report such activity in our normal course of business.
Will Registered E-mailŪ
services integrate seamlessly with other components
(archive, records management, document management, etc.)
of an overall compliance solution and strategy?
Yes. The Registered E-mailŪ service seamlessly plugs
into virtually any e-mail archive or compliance
solution. As a rule of thumb, if your system manages
e-mail records, you can easily add Registered E-mail
services to it.
Has this technology been
embraced by the legal community?
Various Bar associations have endorsed the Registered
E-mailŪ services as Legal Proof™ protection for internet
e-mail. These organizations educate attorneys about
effective tools that better their representation of
their clients. For example, The Bars of New York City,
Boston, Atlanta, District of Columbia, Los Angeles
County, among many others, have endorsed/sponsor the
Registered E-mailŪ service as a tool to reduce cost,
simplify processes, and bring the legal community into
conformity with modern business practices.
Further, attorney users range from in-house counsel; to
legally oriented entities such as the United States
Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress
that audits the Federal government; to attorneys at
global law firms such as Greenberg Traurig; to sole
practitioners and small law office practices.
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