Also in Word 2010 you can, under the developer tab, restrict editing. If you don't see the developer tab read Developer Tab in Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010.

Click on the Restrict Editing button and select the default.


That default is No Changes (Read-Only). This will be searchable text using Find. It will not be able to be saved in .doc format with the protection. I don't know if Word 2003 with the converter will be able to read it.

You can set a password (don't lose it). Again, this is minimal protection. A knowledgeable user can get around it in less than 2 minutes. There aren't that many knowledgeable users but an internet search would probably turn up how to do it in less than a day.