http://www.dlcppi.org/texts/tech/jumpstart.htm Jump-Starting the Digital Economy (with Department of Motor Vehicles-Issued Digital Certificates) Marc Strassman and Robert D. Atkinson The emerging digital economy promises high-productivity, low- unemployment, and increased standards of living. However, citizens, companies, or governments will be unable to fully realize these benefits until individuals can easily and securely authenticate themselves over the Internet. Currently, few Americans can do this; that is, they are unable to fully represent themselves over the Internet in a way that securely tells other people and companies that they are who they claim to be and allows them to be taken seriously when they state their intentions. As a result, few companies or governments have developed applications that could use online authentication; and likewise, since few online applications require authentication, consumers have little reason to obtain the means to sign documents digitally. The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) proposes that state governments should help jump start this process by providing digital certificates to all citizens who want them through state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices. [...] Digital signature technology can be used to transfer into cyberspace the same, or a higher, level of assurance for legal and commercial purposes than has existed in common law, statutory law, and Uniform Commercial Codes for non-cyberspace transactions. By unambiguously and definitively establishing that a certain document has been "signed" by someone -- or that someone has stated, indicated, and memorialized his or her intent to enter into an agreement of some type -- digital signature technology makes it possible for binding transactions that cannot be repudiated to take place at a distance electronically. In short, digital signature technology enables today's e- commerce (online retailing) to flower into e-business and e-government (online transactions of a wide range). [...]
