digital signatures by e-mail

[tdd1984]

is a copy of a signature good, or does it have to be in pen, say for example I send some contracts to a client, and they sign them will they be valid? since its a copy of the signature?

[Taltos]

Good question. If it is by fax, it used to depend on the fax machine. There were type 1-4. I don't recall for sure now but I think type I and type III were not legal signatures and type II and type IV were legal signatures. It had to do with how the data was transmitted and compression losses, etc. I don't know what the current state on that is.

And if you throw in scanning and emailing, I suspect it gets more iffy.

[tdd1984]

Originally Posted by Taltos

Good question. If it is by fax, it used to depend on the fax machine. There were type 1-4. I don't recall for sure now but I think type I and type III were not legal signatures and type II and type IV were legal signatures. It had to do with how the data was transmitted and compression losses, etc. I don't know what the current state on that is.

And if you throw in scanning and emailing, I suspect it gets more iffy.

what do you mean by types? now a digital signautre is just a copy of your actualy signature right?

[tdd1984]

Originally Posted by Taltos

Good question. If it is by fax, it used to depend on the fax machine. There were type 1-4. I don't recall for sure now but I think type I and type III were not legal signatures and type II and type IV were legal signatures. It had to do with how the data was transmitted and compression losses, etc. I don't know what the current state on that is.

And if you throw in scanning and emailing, I suspect it gets more iffy.

i found it http://www.i-fax.com/i-fax_white_paper.html

[Taltos]

good info! It sounds more open now. The old fax types related to how they scanned and compressed the data to be sent. Some were legal and some weren't. I had a strong feeling we had moved past that but never took the time to hunt the answer down. Nice to know. Greenie for that!