[LINK] Electronic witnessing [was: High Court case Re: Register Online to Vote Should be LLegal]

[Tom Worthington]

Stephen Wilson wrote:
> Philip Argy wrote:
>> Section 98(2)(b) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 ... subparagraph
>> (c) requires the claimant's signature to "be attested ...
>
> Is there any good practical example anywhere of using an electronic 
> signature to witness another electronic signature? ...

Courts seem to have avoided the issue of technical standards for 
electronic documents by simply accepting documents which look like a 
paper document when printed out.

Given that no one at the AEC is checking the signatures on the paper 
documents they get, there seems little point in creating a complex 
system of multiple digital signatures for the electronic equivalent. 
There would be some simple authentication which could be applied and 
which would be as good as a "signature" (which no one ever checks), 
without the complexity of digital signatures.

Electronic documents are not new and have been considered by courts 
since the development of the electric telegraph, more than 100 years ago.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au