The hope is to have something completed by the end of the year. Privacy Could Cost Billions Privacy legislation pending in Congress could cost billions of dollars for companies doing business online, the Association for Competitive Technology says. The proposal would require companies to collect personally identifiable information and allow users to see and correct it. The Association is an advocacy group including Microsoft, EBay and other major Web operators. Women tend to use Internet messages as an extension of the way they talk - to connect with friends, share intimate thoughts, express their triumphs and frustrations.
Men tend to be briefer and more utilitarian.
A study from a cross-country wedding party illustrates some of this. A bridesmaid compiled e-correspondence into a book. About 90 percent of it was messages among the bride and her bridesmaids - a lot of wedding trivia, but a lot of personal chat, too. But some researchers are finding that e-mail allows men to convey thoughts and feelings they d probably never express aloud or in other ways. Women add a question, tweak a thread or make things more complicated.