Signature

The computer and TELECOMMUNICATIONS have changed how work is done and how it is exchanged. Both business and the legal system have begun to explore ways of using the Internet and other forms of electronic communication to transact work. Court systems cannot permit the electronic filing of legal documents, however, unless the documents have been authenticated as coming from the sender. Similarly, businesses will not enter into contracts using the Internet or E-MAIL unless they can authenticate that the other contracting party actually made the agreement. Computers and digital scanners can reproduce handwritten signatures, but they are susceptible to forgery.

A solution has been the legal recognition of "digital signatures." The majority of states have enacted statutes that allow digital signatures in intrastate transactions. In 2000, President BILL CLINTON signed into law the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, Pub. L. No. 106-229, 114 Stat. 464, also called the E-Sign Act, which essentially validates electronic contracts in interstate and foreign commerce. The act does not apply to certain types of documents, including wills, DIVORCE notices, and documents that are associated with court proceedings.

A digital signature is based on cryptography, which uses mathematical formulas, or algorithms, to scramble messages. Using encryption and decryption software, the sender can scramble the message and the recipient can unscramble it. To affix a digital signature to an electronic document, a signer must obtain electronic "keys." The keys are assigned in pairs: a private key and a public key.

A person creates his keys using a software program. The digital signature is affixed to the electronic document using the private key. The "signer" types in a password, similar to a personal identification number for an automatic teller machine. The private key then generates a long string of numbers and letters that represent the digital signature, or public key. The recipient of the message runs a software program using this public key to authenticate that the document was signed by the private key and that the document has not been altered during transmission.

It is mathematically infeasible for a person to derive another person's private key. The only way to compromise a digital signature is to give another person access to the signature software and the password to the private key.