On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, Philip Newton wrote: > > The problem is that a forged signature does *not* record the assent of > the purported signer, and that you can't tell them apart if all you > have is a digital document that was supposedly scanned in from a piece > of paper.
Right. If you dispute the legitimacy of a forged contract, and you can't resolve the problem with the other parties, then it becomes a matter for the civil or possibly criminal courts. This is not a problem of computer technology or telecommunications technology: you can also forge paper-and-pen documents. This is why signatures on important documents have witnesses, so that there are disinterested third parties who can stand up in court to say what actually happened. The question then becomes one of what is the digital equivalent of a human witness, but since software sucks you aren't going to get very far with finding an answer. Tony. -- f.a.n.finch <d...@dotat.at> http://dotat.at/ SOUTH UTSIRE: SOUTH OR SOUTHWEST 5 TO 7. MODERATE OR ROUGH. RAIN AT TIMES. GOOD BECOMING MODERATE OR POOR.
