How Necessary is Email Archiving?

[zcnb]

On one hand, setting 'Email Archiving Active' to 'true' can take up a lot of disk space and become a performance problem.

On the other hand, it may be necessary for "complying with my country's laws".

But, at least initially, I plan to receive (via POP3) a copy of each and every email sent to customers - to feel the heartbeat of the system and to be able to respond to problems in real-time.

So, I can see some redundancy here. In such case, is it really necessary to turn on Email Archiving?

Also, is there a serious link or some article that can explain this legal requirement in the USA?

I understand that some email archiving is required here in the USA. But, technically speaking, to which extent? Only emails sent from the store itself? How about customer service correspondence that is not done via Zen Cart? For how long should emails be stored?

Thanks,
Daniel

[Kim]

Again - Google is your friend - http://ask.metafilter.com/53415/US-Email-Archive-Law should give you a good start. To find more use 'email archiving laws'.

[zcnb]

Thanks. I did google before posting my question and even provided a link that I found but your link is better.

I guess that turning on Email Archiving before going live is a must then.