Italian decree gives registered e-mail legal status

by Philip Willan

March 26, 2004 —

The Italian government has passed a decree giving a registered e-mail service the same legal status as recorded delivery letters, a measure expected to go into effect within the next two months, a spokesman for the Innovation and Technologies Ministry said Friday.

The decree, which puts Italy at the digital forefront in Europe, was proposed by Innovation and Technologies Minister Lucio Stanca and approved by the cabinet Thursday.

"The measure is an act of modernity. Electronic-mail is increasingly becoming an instrument of daily communication," Stanca said in a prepared statement.

In 2003, the number of e-mail messages handled by the public administration rose to 31 million from 14.6 million the previous year, the minister said. The cost to the civil service of sending conventional postal mail was estimated at

IDG News Service