Swiss Post has bought the Zurich-based firm SwissSign (http://www.swisssign.com), which specialises in digital encryption, to introduce registered e-post. Its new incaMail communication platform will permit letters with signature or registered letters to be displayed electronically in a legally-binding form.

The digital postmark will act as a guarantee of delivery, Swiss Post says. The sender would be required to attach a signature to the contents and the sender would receive proof that the message was delivered.

Swiss Post and the Swiss Federal Court have already agreed to conduct a pilot project. The pilot - called JusLink - serves to install incaMail as an electronic delivery platform for the exchange of documents between attorneys and courts.

Traditional post offices would still have a role to play in the digital revolution, despite a decline in the volume of traditional letters of 16 per cent by 2010. The post office network would function as registration offices to verify the identification of applicants. ®

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