At 1:57 AM 5/30/96, jonathon wrote: ....

It is a specialty within the QDE Field, but there are a few QDE's that are _currently_ doing that. << Printed hard copy, not electronic copy, but that is the _only_ difference. >>

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I would be very interested to hear how a "Questioned Document Examiner" can

It is at the point where statistics, textual analysis, grammar and lingustics converge.

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possibly determine that a digital signature was not applied by a particular person.

I don't remember the minimum number of characters that are needed to establish that a document was written by a specific individual. Roughly fifteen pages of text that both sides admit as being authentic is required for the undisputed exemplars.

Ah, but the issue of who _signs_ a document is fundamentally and importantly different from the issue of who _wrote_ the document. If I have allegedly _signed_ a contract, who cares if exhaustive analysis reveals it to have been _written_ with 77.93% probability by Irving J. Shlublutz, CPA for State Farm Insurance Compance? The issue with digital signatures is who _signed_ a document, not who _wrote_ a document. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."