[82557] in Cypherpunks
Re: Secure Authentication
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Fri Jun 27 20:25:23 1997
In-Reply-To: <199706272026.NAA07580@slack.lne.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 18:41:05 -0400
To: pooh@efga.org
From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
> Robert A. Costner writes:
> > Electronic Frontiers Georgia is forming a working group on Secure
> > Authentication Methodologies.
Actually, the best signature law proposal I've seen comes from the, so help
me, Massachusetts.
It's a single sentence which says that there will be nothing Massachusetts
law which can be construed to preclude the use of a digital signature.
Double negatives aside, the above translates into legal digital signatures.
Period. No bullshit about "Certification" "Authorities", or what
constitutes a "legal" digital signature, or any other cruft. If you sign a
state, or other, document with a digital signature, then, if it can be
proven to be your signature, you signed it. Game over.
Even broken clocks are right twice a day, I guess. :-).
Now if we can get away from the whole idea of biometric signatures
altogether, that would be the next trick...
Cheers,
Bob Hettinga
-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com), Philodox
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
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