"Lie in X.509, Go to Jail", pt. 2 Cheers, RAH --- begin forwarded text From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 20:58:00 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: IP: [FP] California inaugurates digital signatures - cnn.com FORWARDED: ---------------------- From: "ScanThisNews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [FP] California inaugurates digital signatures - cnn.com Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 20:06:03 -0500 SCAN THIS NEWS 10/19/99 [forwarded article] California inaugurates digital signatures www.cnn.com http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9910/19/california.digital.idg/index.html October 19, 1999 by Dan Caterinicchia (IDG) -- Yesterday California officially authorized Verisign Inc. to begin issuing digital signature certificates to secure communications between state agencies and between the state and its citizens, ushering in a new era of electronic services delivery. Bill Jones, California's secretary of state, marked the occasion by digitally "signing" the authorization certificate for the company, making it the first such transaction since the state passed a law that spelled out the requirements for legally binding digital signatures. "We're bringing in the private sector to help us to create the opportunity for the public to access [government] services more quickly," Jones said. "Our goal is to deliver something that's easily accessible but doesn't add to the layers of government." Digital signatures are seen as a vital component of Internet-based commerce because they authenticate the identities of the parties involved in a transaction. Verisign, based in Mountain View, Calif., was the first to satisfy California's digital signature requirements. Jones said his department is interested in using digital signatures to enable residents to cast votes over the Internet. Other agencies have expressed a desire to use the tool to secure business filings and similar transactions, he said. Stratton Sclavos, Verisign's president and chief executive officer, said that for all the Internet has done to change the commerce landscape domestically and abroad, so far it has missed the "citizen-government relationship." He added that digital signature certification and the host of services it affects will exact a "fundamental change in the way citizens are going to interact with [state and local] government." Verisign is working on similar digital signature projects in Oregon, New Jersey, Utah and Washington, Sclavos said. ======================================================================= Don't believe anything you read on the Net unless: 1) you can confirm it with another source, and/or 2) it is consistent with what you already know to be true. ======================================================================= Reply to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ======================================================================= To subscribe to the free Scan This News newsletter, send a message to <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and type "subscribe scan" in the BODY. Or, to be removed type "unsubscribe scan" in the message BODY. For additional instructions see www.efga.org/about/maillist.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "Scan This News" is Sponsored by S.C.A.N. Host of the "FIGHT THE FINGERPRINT!" web page: www.networkusa.org/fingerprint.shtml ======================================================================= --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
