At 02:26 PM 11/30/2001 -0800, Meyer Wolfsheim wrote:

...

Following which the buyer posts all the signed emails between self and seller detailing the fraudulent transaction.

Worthless, as all of those messages could have been forged. Or did you mean to say that they had been dated by a third party timestamping service?

The fact is, digital signatures are irrelevant if private keys can be compromised.

I strongly suggest that you look beyond simple all-or-nothing thinking about digital signatures; they are neither the "undeniable irrevocable absolutely certain proof of enforceability" that their proponents want to believe, nor are they "irrelevant" or worthless because of the mere possibility of key compromise. Other kinds of proof and evidence with respect to transactions and agreements admit many more levels of nuance, meaning, and reliability and there's no reason to expect that digital signatures will prove to be any different .. or should be any different. -- Greg Broiles -- gbroiles@parrhesia.com -- PGP 0x26E4488c or 0x94245961 Eliminate due process, civil rights? It's the Constitution, stupid!