Bob: May I impose on you a second time and ask you to post this to your list of DBS people? I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to make much progress on the encyclopedia article because, among other things, I had to finish this paper first. I hope to reply shortly to the many colleagues of yours who were kind enough to send suggestions for innovative electronic payments I should cover in that piece. I've written an article arguing that digital signature may not be the next big thing after all, the popular wisdom on this point notwithstanding. If I have my facts wrong, or my descriptions of the technology wrong, I'd be grateful to have this pointed out to me before this appears in print. I've posted a draft at: http://www.smu.edu/~jwinn/shocking-truth.htm If any of your colleagues have any comments, I'd be grateful for the feedback. regards, jkw ******************************** Jane Kaufman Winn Professor Southern Methodist University School of Law Dallas TX 75275-0116 www.smu.edu/~jwinn www.virtual-langdell.com ******************************** --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga 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'