InformationWeek: Protected From Prying Eyes:

"Until recently, Merck shared sensitive clinical drug-trial information by sending a hard copy to physicians by overnight courier. But this approach added days to the process and also placed confidential information at risk. After Merck sent a report to a physician, there was no way to control who else read it.

Merck recently tested Microsoft's Windows Rights Management Services for Windows Server 2003 to see if it could provide a more efficient, auditable, and secure way to share clinical-trial data with its partnering physicians. The services let companies control access to documents after they've been sent outside the company. Documents are encrypted and can include an expiration date, after which users can't read them. Rights Management Services also can limit the ability of recipients to cut and paste, print, or forward documents."