RMS Pricing Announced

Windows Rights Management Services (RMS), Microsoft’s forthcoming server add-on for protecting information (such as documents and e-mails) from unauthorized copying and use, will require customers to buy per-user or per-device client licenses when it becomes available in Oct. 2003. Customers will also need to upgrade at least some desktops to the Professional Editions of Office 2003 applications so users can create protected material.

Licensed Like Terminal Services

RMS is the server component of Windows Rights Management, a set of Microsoft technologies that can be used to assign granular rights to documents and e-mails, controlling exactly what other individuals may do with those files (for example, “read, but not print” or “read-write, but not forward”). Microsoft considers RMS to be a feature of Windows Server 2003, just like Terminal Services, which allows users to access applications remotely; Windows SharePoint Services, which offers document management and hosting of team Web sites; and Windows Media Services, which enables companies to host and stream digital media files, among many others.