Corporate computers are fair game for snooping in the U.S. (Some European countries have stricter privacy rules.) So in-house spooks can divert copies of incoming and outgoing e-mail to a separate file for monitoring.

FORBES: Get Hunt and Liddy on the Phone

The system, called key-escrow, would give police and other law enforcement bodies wide-ranging powers to intercept e-mail, read confidential documents and tap into systems, without monitoring by the courts.

BBC: Security and law enforcement: the government view

Such monitoring is increasingly useful, because of the growing use of e-mail, faxes and the Internet by businesses to communicate.

ECONOMIST: Those perfidious Anglo spies