[Discuss] transmitting legal documents

[tmetro+blu at gmail.com (Tom Metro)]

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

-- 
Tom Metro
The Perl Shop, Newton, MA, USA
"Predictable On-demand Perl Consulting."
http://www.theperlshop.com/