Sometimes users are concerned that people will make copies of their documents, and that it will be impossible to find all the copies of a document when they want to be sure it's gone. So rather than remove or restrict convenient copying features, we invite users with copy-control problems to work out among group members ways to deal with sensitive materials. For example, users may agree that they will exchange sensitive documents by passing them from group member to group member rather than dropping them in rooms. Or they may lock their room in order to keep others from accessing those documents. And they may then agree among themselves that they will not make extra copies of these documents.
Some groups wish to control who can put things in their rooms.
We could have equipped CVW with a complex set of user-confusing permissions to decide who can put what items where, but an important feature of CVW is that no matter where users are when having a conversation, they always have the ability simply to drop an object in the room in order to share the information in points to. Just like in real life, the regular occupants of a room can always remind you to take your belongings with you when you leave, and they can throw them out if you don't. Although these examples may seem trivial, negotiating such procedures in a flexible environment often seems to contribute to a group's sense of community. Probably the most important aspect of CVW to many work communities, though, is that it offers them any time, any place collaboration, and puts people in direct contact with resources they previously did not have, or did not have so easily available. The importance of these simple factors in changing how a community is able to work together has become apparent in CVW's use by a Defense Department intelligence organization.