| Electronic Signature
| mag. Janez TopliĊĦek |
Electronic signature -
Adjusting technological and legal solutions in electronic commerce
(Master's degree work; in Slovenian)
English Summary:
All legal systems are based on paper messaging. Thus they are
suspicious about legal enforceability of electronic messages.
This relationship is rapidly changing because of massive electronic
commerce. But the key legal solutions giving the electronic message
full enforceability are still missing. In this context the most
important issue appears to be the electronic signature. The term
electronic signature is generally used for all possible forms
of electronic signing, while digital signature is usually used
for encrypted signature using asymmetric keys. The author throws
light upon the fact that hand-written signature is actually not
a stable and reliable form. Considering all technological/organisational
elements of the electronic signature, it is obvious that it has
much greater efficiency than a hand-written one. Besides the classic
signature functions it makes feasible many others. The most efficient
is the digital signature, which seems to be at the time the most
reliable authenticator for electronic messaging.
The author concludes that electronic signing will hardly be put
forward without assuring the general legal admissibility/enforceability
of electronic messages. Legal rules should be programme-benevolent
("electronically-permissive language") and support new
ways of businesses. We should eliminate all terms from existing
laws which absolutely hinder electronic messaging, and retain
paper-bound terms only where explicitly grounded. A questionnaire-research
among Slovenian lawyers in February 1996 indicated that the lawyers
are aware of efficiency-opportunities which are arising from electronic
commerce. But the questionnaire also pointed to the fact that
they are not familiar enough with practical forms of electronic
commerce and especially not with electronic signing.
KEYWORDS:
cryptography, digital signature, EDI, electronic
commerce, electronic mail, electronic signature, hand-written
signature, Internet, security, law, notary
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