From: RAGLAN54%MMC.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu
Date: Fri, 28 May 93 21:28:10 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Electronic Contracts
Message-ID: <01GYQ0C6AR1U8WX3NV@MMC.BITNET>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Just a thought here.  I'm still new to this cryptography thing, taking it
seriously, have read through the FAQ and the past week or so of posts here.
I just got a copy of PGP tonight, and on reading through the manual, something
leaped out at me:  electronic signature validation.  If your private key acts
as validation for a message, then what you have is an electronic signature that
could be verified, and thus you could sign a contract online; you're snet
the contract in email, you attach your private-key signature to it and email
it back, and voila, you've entered into a contractual agreement that would
stand up in court.  Has there been a test case of this?  Are there any lawyers
or other legal types on this echo that could give an opinion on the validity
of this idea?  Or has this issue been discussed before?

Andrew *5