Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/50188
No Encryption: Encryption ensures that the document can only be opened with a key. While that's effective security now, it also prevents users without the key from viewing the document in the future, defeating the purpose of archiving. No Links to Outside Documents or Web Pages: It's highly unlikely that a document or Web page will maintain its current location far into the future. Simply moving a document to a different server could break the link. When creating a PDF, you can still reference Web pages, but you cannot link to them. For example, an embedded link to "Pacer" is no longer okay, but a fully qualified URL such as "http://www.pacer.org" is acceptable. In that case, it's not a link; it's a location. No Multimedia: Video and audio codecs come and go. The codecs we're using today likely won't be used 100 years from now, so they're not allowed in a PDF/A. Just think of what video looked like 100 years ago! Embedded Fonts Only: All fonts in the document should be part of the PDF, as opposed to referencing fonts that reside on the operating system. If the fonts have to be referenced in the future, and they don't exist on the OS, the document won't render properly. SECURITY GETS A BOOST The ISO standard referenced above (aka ISO 19005) also improves some inherent security issues found in PDF documents. Desktop engineers have long known about the security flaws that PDF files have out of the box, specifically the ability to call third-party code. Such code can allow for a filer to monitor if and when the document is read and to incorporate active software programs in the document. Any program, even a virus, can be called from a PDF. "The codecs we're using today won't be used 100 years from now." TAGGING INCREASES ACCESSIBILITY It's important to note that the standard outlines two versions of PDF/A: The PDF/A-1b (detailed above) and the PDF/A-1a, which has the additional requirement of "tagging" to ensure that the document structure is maintained on portable devices. This allows it to fit different page or screen widths and display well on handheld devices. Tagged PDF files also work better with the screen-reader devices used by sight-impaired and other disabled users. In most cases, tags are necessary in order to make a PDF file comply with Section 508, an amendment to the Workforce Investment Act that requires federal agencies to make their information and technology accessible to people with disabilities. A TIMELINE FOR ENFORCEMENT Federal courts aren't affixing a hard date to their requirement that all filings adhere to ISO 19005 just yet. According to Pacer, each court will set its own date. Clerk Lawrence K. Baerma of the Northern District Court of New York wrote in a letter to bar members dated August 2010: www.iltanet.org Tech Potpourri 15