CDR: Re: Schneier: Why Digital Signatures are not Signatures (was Re: CRYPTO-GRAM, November 15, 2000)

[obfuscation at beta.freedom.net]

Keep in mind that the recent E-Sign bill is not about digital signatures.
It's about electronic signatures.

An electronic signature doesn't necessarily have to have anything to
do with cryptography.  It is simply an electronic means of registering
consent.  This may be as simple as a mouse click, or pressing a button
on your telephone keypad to indicate consent to some charge.

The insecurity of digital signatures pales when we realize how little
security there is in the rest of the world.  Handwritten and electronic
signatures are no more secure than digital ones.

As an aside, the arguments against digital signatures apply to all of
cryptography, and by extension to all of computing.  By these arguments,
we can never trust anything our computers do.  We might as well toss
the whole lot into the trash bin.

Ob