Signing Your Next Deal With Your Twitter @Username: The Legal Uses of Identity-Based Cryptography

This article will look at the legal framework for electronic signatures under Canadian law and through the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures and evaluate the potential use of identity-based cryptography as a type of electronic signature. While most jurisdictions permit electronic signatures to replace their handwritten predecessors, the criteria of validity for an electronic signature range from liberal to restrictive. Public key infrastructure (PKI) cryptography schemes are considered to meet the juridical conditions of a legal signature under more rigorous legislation that requires an electronic signature to possess certain security attributes. In common law jurisdictions, digital signature schemes such as PKI have not been widely adopted in the private sector for use as secure electronic signatures. This may be due to the fact that they are difficult and awkward for the general public to use, rather than because of doubts surrounding certification authorities. This is not entirely the case in Europe and Latin America, where PKI digital signature schemes have been adopted by various governments programs. Case examples of PKI schemes include electronic identity cards issued by European governments such as Belgium’s eID. Though used by the government, the European private sector has widely neglected PKI electronic signature products. This is partly due to a lack of customer demand

Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures

In this updated edition of the well-established practitioner text, Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng have brought together a team of experts in the field to provide an exhaustive treatment of electronic evidence and electronic signatures. This fifth edition continues to follow the tradition in English evidence text books by basing the text on the law of England and Wales, with appropriate citations of relevant case law and legislation from other jurisdictions. Stephen Mason (of the Middle Temple, Barrister) is a leading authority on electronic evidence and electronic signatures, having advised global corporations and governments on these topics. He is also the editor of International Electronic Evidence (British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2008), and he founded the innovative international open access journal Digital Evidence and Electronic Signatures Law Review in 2004. Daniel Seng (Associate Professor, National University of Singapore) is the Director of the Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI and the Law (TRAIL). He teaches and researches information technology law and evidence law. Daniel was previously a partner and head of the technology practice at Messrs Rajah & Tann. He is also an active consultant to the World Intellectual Property Organization, where he has researched, delivered papers and published monographs on copyright exceptions for academic institutions, music copyright in the Asia Pacific and the liability of Internet intermediaries

Electronic Signatures in Law: 4th Edition

Stephen Mason is a leading authority on electronic signatures and electronic evidence, having advised global corporations and governments on these topics. He is also the founder and editor of the international open source journal the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review. Stephen is an Associate Research Fellow at the IALS. This fourth edition of the well-established practitioner text sets out what constitutes an electronic signature; the form an electronic signature can take; and discusses the issues relating to evidence – illustrated by analysis of relevant case law and legislation from a wide range of common law and civil law jurisdictions

Reconocimiento transfronterizo de la firma electrónica

Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Jurídicas y PolíticasHoy en día, un número creciente de transacciones comerciales internacionales se realizan por medio de comunicaciones habitualmente conocidas como comercio electrónico. Se han puesto a punto diversos medios de vincular la información de forma electrónica a personas o entidades concretas, con el objeto de garantizar la integridad de la información o de permitir que las personas demuestren su derecho o autorización para obtener acceso a un determinado servicio o depósito de información. De esta forma, se ha de ser consciente de la gran utilidad de las nuevas formas de identificación personal utilizadas en el comercio electrónico, generalmente conocidas como firmas electrónicas. El creciente empleo de las técnicas de autenticación electrónicas en sustitución de las firmas manuscritas y otros procedimientos tradicionales de autenticación ha planteado la necesidad de crear un marco jurídico para reducir la incertidumbre con respecto a las consecuencias jurídicas que puedan derivarse del empleo de dichas técnicas, llamadas firmas electrónicas, cuya función es dar seguridad y autorización a un documento electrónico. Teniendo en cuenta el carácter transfronterizo del uso que tiene la firma electrónica, la Comisión de Naciones Unidas para el Derecho Mercantil (en adelante CNUDMI), partiendo del artículo 7 de la Ley Modelo de Comercio Electrónico, desarrollada en 1996, respecto del cumplimiento de la función de la firma electrónica en el ámbito electrónico, desarrolla la Ley Modelo de Firma Electrónica en 2001. Ante el riesgo de que distintos países adoptaran criterios legislativos distintos en relación con las firmas electrónicas se hacen necesarias disposiciones legislativas uniformes que establezcan normas básicas de lo que constituye en esencia un fenómeno internacional. Así, la Ley Modelo de Firma Electrónica trata de ayudar a los Estados a establecer un marco legislativo moderno, armonizado y equitativo para abordar de manera eficaz las cuestiones relativas a las firmas electrónicas. Así, mientras las comunicaciones electrónicas van ganado importancia en múltiples aspectos de la vida económica, muchos países han adoptados medidas a nivel interno, promulgando leyes que afirman el valor jurídico de la comunicaciones electrónicas y determinan los criterios necesarios para establecer su equivalencia a las comunicaciones consignadas sobre el papel, de forma que las disposiciones que rigen los métodos de autentificación y firma electrónica suelen ser un componente importante de las leyes. Los Estados han promulgado leyes, aunque teniendo en cuenta las Leyes Modelos mencionadas, se han centrado en necesidades y medios nacionales, generando un sistema complejo con soluciones diferentes, situación que ha provocado la creación de obstáculos a los intercambios transfronterizos, que lastran el funcionamiento del mercado para empresas y ciudadanos a nivel internacional. De esta manera, la tarea en pro de la uniformidad y armonización del derecho aplicable a la contratación electrónica y al comercio electrónico, y con ello a lo que se refiere en cuanto a su seguridad, se ha llevado a cabo por la CNUDMI mediante las mencionadas Leyes Modelos de Comercio Electrónico y Firma Electrónica, teniendo en cuenta como objetivo la actividad empresarial por parte de los empresario. La uniformidad resulta más difícil y compleja en la esfera del Derecho interno y aún más en el ámbito de la protección de los consumidores. Algunos Estados adoptaron las leyes modelos a sus legislaciones internas, como es el caso de países como China, India, México, etc. Otros, si bien la han tenido en cuenta, han introducido diversos criterios que han provocado el surgimiento de problemas tales como el reconocimiento transfronterizo de la firma electrónica.Universidad Pablo de Olavide. Departamento de Derecho Privad

Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures

In this updated edition of the well-established practitioner text, Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng have brought together a team of experts in the field to provide an exhaustive treatment of electronic evidence and electronic signatures. This fifth edition continues to follow the tradition in English evidence text books by basing the text on the law of England and Wales, with appropriate citations of relevant case law and legislation from other jurisdictions. Stephen Mason (of the Middle Temple, Barrister) is a leading authority on electronic evidence and electronic signatures, having advised global corporations and governments on these topics. He is also the editor of International Electronic Evidence, and he founded the innovative international open access journal Digital Evidence and Electronic Signatures Law Review in 2004. Daniel Seng (Associate Professor, National University of Singapore) is the Director of the Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI and the Law (TRAIL). He teaches and researches information technology law and evidence law. Daniel was previously a partner and head of the technology practice at Messrs Rajah & Tann. He is also an active consultant to the World Intellectual Property Organization, where he has researched, delivered papers and published monographs on copyright exceptions for academic institutions, music copyright in the Asia Pacific and the liability of Internet intermediaries

The Legal Classification of Identity-Based Signatures

Identity-based cryptography has attracted attention in the cryptographic research community in recent years. Despite the importance of cryptographic schemes for applications in business and law, the legal implications of identity-based cryptography have not yet been discussed. We investigate how identity-based signatures fit into the legal framework. We focus on the European Signature Directive, but also take the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures into account. In contrast to previous assumptions, identity-based signature schemes can, in principle, be used even for qualified electronic signatures, which can replace handwritten signatures in the member states of the European Union. We derive requirements to be taken into account in the development of future identity-based signature schemes.