Definition of electronic signature

If the draft article contained only the identity criterion in paragraph 3 (a), a court in a jurisdiction with digital signature laws might decide that only a digital signature was appropriate for identifying the parties.

(b) To adduce evidence of the non reliability of an electronic signature.

(a) The authenticity of electronic signatures relating to tenders can be established comply with relevant electronic signature legislation, e.g. that based on Model Law on Electronic Signatures

(a) To take reasonable steps to verify the reliability of an electronic signature or

(b) Where an electronic signature is supported by a certificate, to take reasonable steps

Procedures for searching electronic files on computers, servers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other electronic devices must also be established.

(c) Any alteration to the electronic signature, made after the time of signing, is detectable and

3. An electronic signature created or used outside the enacting State shall have the same legal effect in the enacting State as an electronic signature created or used in the enacting State if it offers a substantially equivalent level of reliability.

Paragraph 3 (a) provides that only an electronic signature that fulfils both the function of identification of the party as well as the function of indicating that party's approval of the information contained in the electronic communication meets that legal requirement of a signature in relation to an electronic communication.

Draft paragraph 3 (b) was not intended to confer legal validity on an electronic signature but simply to make it the functional equivalent of a handwritten signature.

(i) Acoustically activated fuzes use electronic sensors to react to acoustic pressure and recognize the acoustic signature.

1. Where a certification service provider provides services to support an electronic signature that may be used for legal effect as a signature, that certification service provider shall

(a) To the geographic location where the certificate is issued or the electronic signature created or used or

The provision in paragraph 3 (b), however, would allow the court to consider the circumstances in which the signature had been affixed, thereby permitting something that fell short of a digital signature.

The purpose of the draft convention was to indicate how a single set of rules of law should best be interpreted in the field of electronic communications and not to create a legal entity, an electronic signature, with a separate status from a handwritten signature.

(f) Relying party means a person that may act on the basis of a certificate or an electronic signature.

Electronic'' means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities (United States Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000 Sect.

The capabilities of many digital electronic devices are strongly linked to Moore's law quality adjusted microprocessor prices, memory capacity, sensors and even the number and size of pixels in digital cameras.

The term digital rights describes the human rights that allow individuals to access, use, create, and publish digital media or to access and use computers, other electronic devices, or communications networks.

It was suggested that, in the interests of uniformity, the draft instrument should adopt a definition of electronic signature based on other UNCITRAL instruments such as the Model Law on Electronic Signatures (2001) and the Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996).

An electronic portfolio (also known as an eportfolio, e portfolio, digital portfolio, or online portfolio) is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web.

3. An electronic signature is considered to be reliable for the purpose of satisfying the requirement referred to in paragraph 1 if

1. In determining whether, or to what extent, a certificate or an electronic signature is legally effective, no regard shall be had

Other views were expressed that the term electronic signature should not be defined, and that it should be left to national law.

The phrase A method is used to identify the party and to associate that party with the information contained in the electronic communication represents the minimum functional requirements of any signature, handwritten or electronic.

The objective was to ensure that, if an electronic signature fulfilled the functions described in draft article 9, paragraph 3 (a), a party could not challenge the validity of that signature on the grounds of non reliability.

Signature Signature

Further, it was thought that, in order to be commercially practicable, a definition of electronic signature should be uncomplicated and inexpensively met in practice.

We are of the view that, compared with article 7 of the Model Law on Electronic Commerce, article 6 of the Model Law on Electronic Signatures can significantly increase legal certainty by having set out well detailed standards for determining the reliability of an electronic signature.

They were needed, inter alia, to assist States that were enacting new laws in determining what criteria an electronic signature had to fulfil in order to be equivalent to a handwritten signature and also to encourage the use of new technology.

Some States may have requirements for digital or other authenticated forms of electronic signatures in electronic commerce, which may be applied to procurement provided that they do not operate so as to restrict access to the procurement.

(a) To establish in any other way, for the purpose of satisfying the requirement referred to in paragraph 1, the reliability of an electronic signature or

A party could try to invalidate his own electronic signature as being insufficiently reliable, in order to invalidate a contract, where it is convenient to him.

In our view, electronic signatures are merely another form of signature, and should in principle be legally valid as signatures without any special requirements of reliability.

Whether an electronic communication that fulfilled the requirement of a signature has legal validity is to be settled under the law applicable outside the draft convention.

In the Model Law on Electronic Commerce, article 7 and article 13 together affirmed the validity of an electronic signature and allowed the attribution of the data message to an originator as long as the addressee used a method agreed upon with the originator to verify the authenticity of the message, without the need to demonstrate the authenticity of the signature itself.

Questions of proof of the making of the signature (which exist for both handwritten and electronic signatures) should not distort the law on the validity of signatures.

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books.

It was suggested that, if national law was the applicable law, rules would have to be established to determine the choice of law to govern the electronic signature.

Dolby Digital digital sound decoding.

The definitions in these Directives provides as follows Electronic means means using electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data which is transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, by radio, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means.

The conjunctive requirement in paragraph 3 (a) of article 9 would prevent electronic signatures from satisfying the requirement of law for a signature in such situations where the function of indicating approval of the contents of the electronic communication cannot be fulfilled by such signatures.

(a) Electronic signature means data in electronic form in, affixed to or logically associated with, a data message, which may be used to identify the signatory in relation to the data message and to indicate the signatory's approval of the information contained in the data message

However, there may be instances where the law requires a signature that does not fulfil the function of indicating the signing party's approval of the information contained in the electronic communication.