The wide use of data networks encourages the exchange of electronic documents. However, this practice often has unwanted side-effects such as unauthorised copying, redistribution or modification of these documents. Moreover, the recipient usually has no convenient means of confirming the authenticity of the document, while the sender has no proof of receipt. In this paper we present the major requirements for the commercialisation of electronic information and describe an agent-based framework for the exchange of arbitrary electronic documents over open networks.