True. But, as you mentioned there are several industries that are hold outs,
On 02/22/2015 12:51 PM, Tom Metro wrote: > Jerry Feldman wrote: >> Unfortunately fax machines are a legal way to send information. While >> today many transactions are done by email, fax is the only legally >> recognized way to send a document. > It's true that there are industries that are holdouts for using fax > (like doctors), and few companies are wise enough to adopt open > encryption standards, like S/MIME (instead fording you to use web sites > or other proprietary encryption for sending secure messages), but there > is no legal necessity to use fax. > > When you say "legally recognized way" it really comes down to what is > recognized by the law and the courts as a legitimate way to sign a legal > document, and that was addressed by the ESIGN Act in 2000. > > See: > https://www.docusign.com/electronic-signature-legality > > "...the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act > (ESIGN, 2000) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA, > 1999)...establish that electronic records and signatures carry the > same weight and legal effect as traditional paper documents and > handwritten signatures..." > > > http://www.pcworld.com/article/253523/how_to_make_sure_that_digital_signature_is_legit.html > http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/electronic-signatures-online-contracts-29495.html > http://www.isaacbowman.com/the-history-of-electronic-signature-laws > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Signatures_in_Global_and_National_Commerce_Act > > > We've executed consulting contracts using e-signatures. > > Read the PC World article above to see examples of the actual format > that an e-signature takes. It has basically no security against being > forged. The approach seems laughable but I guess PKI was beyond the > grasp of legislators. > > When not using a third party service like DocuSign, we have clients > digitally sign documents with PKI in addition to adhering to the ESIGN > signature format. > > -Tom > -- Jerry Feldman <g...@blu.org> Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id:B7F14F2F PGP Key fingerprint: D937 A424 4836 E052 2E1B 8DC6 24D7 000F B7F1 4F2F _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@blu.org http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss