[Discuss] need to set up fax-mail system

[mark at buttery.org (Shirley Márquez Dúlcey)]

On 8/27/2011 12:52 PM, Rich Pieri wrote:
> On 8/27/2011 11:44 AM, Shirley M?rquez D?lcey wrote:
>> And an absurd one in an age when a lot of faxes are sent from computers.
>> A fax is actually easier to forge than a digital document because of its
>> relatively low resolution; it's trivial to pass off a Photoshopped
>> document as an original fax scan. Yet another case of the law not
>> keeping up with technical reality.
>
> It isn't about forgery. It's about what is and is not legally binding.
> Today, if a person other than the signatory or his authorized agent is
> involved directly in the reproduction of a document then the legal
> validity of the reproduction is questionable. In circumstances where it
> matters, such as court and medical and financial documents, documents of
> questionable validity are unacceptable.
>
> For example, the Apple Board of Directors recently elected Steve Jobs to
> the position of Chairman. If the documents are of questionable validity
> then someone could legitimately claim that The Steve is not legally the
> Chairman. The required procedures have not been followed.
>
> So, it isn't so much as the law failing to keep up as it is that legal
> proceedings don't change quickly.

And my point is that a faxed signature is, if anything, of even more 
dubious legitimacy than a scanned and emailed one. Given the ease of 
forgery of faxed signatures I find it amazing that they are considered 
legal signatures for any purpose whatsoever.