IP: California Approves Digital John Hancock

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 03:57:11 +0200 (CEST)
> From: 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.