[118035] in Cypherpunks
California Approves Digital John Hancock
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Fri Sep 17 22:21:02 1999
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 03:57:11 +0200 (CEST)
Message-Id: <199909180157.DAA02655@mail.replay.com>
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
California Approves Digital John Hancock
By Mo Krochmal, TechWeb
Sep 17, 1999 (3:35 PM)
URL: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990917S0015
California governor Gray Davis on Thursday digitally signed into law a bill that gives electronic signatures equal legal standing with traditional signatures produced with a pen. The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, makes electronic signatures legally binding in many types of legal documentation -- including state or local laws, rental agreements, and leases. A number of documents will still require a signature, such as wills and real-estate transactions.
California is the first state to give electronic signatures legal validity, although digital signatures are being used to let police officers in Gwinnett County, outside Atlanta, use videoconferencing to create arrest warrants. Digital signatures are regarded as a key to the creation of a seamless system of e-commerce, seamlessly substituting for old-fashioned signatures to legally seal a deal.
