One of the most important, if often overlooked, features of Windows Server 2008 is the new Active Directory Rights Management Services.  Formerly called either Windows Rights Management or Information Rights Management Services in Windows Server 2003, a greatly improved and more robust AD RMS is now included with Server 2008 and a key capability in Exchange 2007. 

In the Federal Government workspace, there are many cases where information must be protected from unauthorized access.  Consider the case where a Government Senior Manager creates a Word Document (or Excel Spreadsheet or any Office 2007 artifact) containing classified information and E-mails the document to his direct reports.  The Government Manager wants to ensure that:

• Only those managers to which the Senior Manager grants access can Open and Read the item, thereby ensuring no unauthorized access.
  
• None of the recipients are allowed to Print the document, thereby preventing accidental disclosure that can occur when a document is forgotten or left too long on the Printer
  
• None of the receipients can Forward the E-mail message to anyone else, thereby preventing dissemination, or "spillage," of the information either inside or outside of the organization.

In this simple example, AD RMS has protected the information assets of the Government organization.  The easy, intuitive process has allowed the Manager to apply a very granular permissions system completely integrated with the Enterprise's deployment of Active Directory.