It is settled as IATA has mandated no paper tickets a year from now. 2007 is your last chance to use paper tickets.

Some of these changes in e-ticket procedures are occuring as the various airlines prepare for this 100% e-ticket environment. Expect more changes. At the moment the airlines are up to their eyeballs just to have a system that works, and features that are nice but not essential, like deferred ticketing, are going to be lower priority and may change as needed.