The distinction I'd make between email and backup tapes is this: Backup
tapes are kept irrespective of content because the "content" here is as
disaster recovery/business continuity. Insofar as there is a meaningful
distinction between vital electronic records and nonvital electronic
records, one might treat certain backup tapes differently than others, but
that is not very common today.  

IANASRBDNAL (I am not an SEC-regulated broker dealer, nor a lawyer), but my
understanding is that SEC, NASD, etc. require that emails and other
communications relating to trades or client communications as defined by the
regulation are required to be maintained - not every single email ever sent
or received by a broker-dealer. If my understanding is incorrect I'd welcome
the correction, but I don't believe that an email about my brother's
anniversary party would be required to be kept by the SEC. 

Backups are, or should be, a different beast whose retention is based solely
on the business and/or statutory requirements for disaster recovery and
business continuity. I can't imagine a non-statutory reason for keeping
backups longer than 30 days (notwithstanding legal holds). 

For those of you in government who might think, "Hey! State law says all
email created on state time and state computers are records and have to be
kept", I have two responses. First, whatever the statute says, goes - even
if it's a silly statute. At least in CO we have plenty of those. Second,
even with a statute in place, there are determinations as to whether a
record is transitory, time- or event-based, or permanent retention and those
determinations are based on content. 

My tuppence on a brisk CO morning,

Jesse Wilkins
CDIA+, LIT, ICP, edp, ermm, ecms
IMERGE Consulting
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(303) 574-1455 office
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Visit http://www.imergeconsult.com/schedule2.html for a current schedule of
courses. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of bobd
Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2006 10:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Developing e-mail policy, my chance to shine, help me please

In a message in reply to Laura Bolt message Larry Medina stated:

"E-mail IS NOT A RECORD SERIES.  E-mail is the conveyance the information
arrives or is sent by, and the retention period should be based on the
content of the e-mail itself"

I am not sure I agree with Larry and others who have basically stated the
same thing.  For some reason I believe I remember that our retention
schedule for a company I worked for in a past life had established the
retention period for the rotation of the backup tapes as part of the IT
processes and procedures. 

If a backup tape can be considered a series, why not E-Mail if used to
retain the information of all email for a specific period of time.  While an
individual email message must be identified by content, filed, and retained
just like records in other formats the contents of all email received could
be saved for a specific period of time as established by the internal policy
of the organization, i.e., a backup system for email messages only that
would be documented on the retention schedule with the specific retention
requirement. 

An example would with the SEC requirement for retaining email/IM, etc., of
individuals who work as broker/dealers.  Their emails are required to be
backed up.  No distinction of content is established (except they are
broker/dealers).  

Now I would guess that each message received is also filed in electronic
and/or paper format based on content (client name, etc.,) to confirm sale or
discussion.  

If my logic is correct you could have two separate records series for the
same information with two separate retention periods.

One for:  

E-Mail which I believe still has a three (3) year retention period. (17 CFR
240-17(a)-4)

E-Mail and/or other format copy filed as part of the client file which would
be retained for xxx number of years.  Possible as long as the client does
business with the company. (17 CFR 240.17a-4(c))

Just my thoughts on the subject on a cold rainy day in the rainy, rainy
Pacific Northwest.

Bob Dalton, CRM
Dalton Consulting
1-253-229-4555
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