President Clinton Cyber-Signs e-Signatures Into Law
Friday, June 30, 2000JEFF YASTINE: You soon will be able to conduct business entirely online without ever signing on the dotted line. A new bill signed into law today by President Clinton is a huge boost to e-commerce by granting digital signatures the same legal status as written ones. Darren Gersh explains.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The President used an electronic smart card to sign the digital signature’s legislation, but White House aides weren’t sure that was legal yet, so first Mr. Clinton also used a pen. The new law does away with all that uncertainty. As of October 1st, digital signatures will be just as legal as those made with pen and paper.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Online contracts will now have the same legal force as equivalent paper contracts.
GERSH: For businesses, digital signature technology is a huge opportunity. VeriSign (VRSN) provides the technology to make digital signatures; market estimates will be worth up to $100 billion over the next seven years.
STRATON SCLAVOS, CEO, VERISIGN NETWORKS: Just step back and say to yourself how many times a day do I pull out a credential or sign something? And then apply that in a digital context for all those same relationships moving to the digital world. So we like the place we’re in right now.
GERSH: The most immediate winners from the new law may be B-to-B companies, now that their customers can enforce agreements negotiated in cyberspace.
SCLAVOS: Today it’s just a place to come meet. Buyers and suppliers come meet there, but if they transact, it generally happens offline. As we build in digital signatures into the exchanges, they’ll now be able to sign purchase orders, they’ll be able to sign agreements, they’ll even be able to facilitate payments by signing a transaction request.
GERSH: Digital signatures aren’t really signatures, of course. They’re more like a digital birth certificate, an electronic document that proves your identity online. Still unclear is how consumers will get those digital certificates and who will issue them.
JAIME LEWIS, CEO, THE BURTON GROUP: That process has yet to be set up. You know is it going to be the government that does that? Is it going to be the bank that does that? Is it going to be the post office that does that? Or will it be all three? And will you end up having certificates from all three for different types of applications, which is likely to be the case.
GERSH: Before many consumers embrace digital signature technology, analysts say it will have to become as widespread and easy to use as this piece of technology, and that day may be a decade away. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
