>[snip: we're talking about digital signatures here]
>> >My point simply being that until everyone agrees on the format the
>> >legislation won't help.
>>
>> Why does everyone have to agree a particular format? As long as the
>> particular signature conforms to the Act, it will be acceptable in law.
>
>Because sooner or later there will be a need to actually do something
>with them. Varying methods of delivery and verification due to
>multiple formats etc will not be much help in this.
This thread started on whether electronic ILLs are legal or not. If the
question now is: what, are the de facto standards, so that different
libraries can communicate effectively with one another, then it would be
unwise to go for one method because it happens to be legal, when a quite
different method is emerging as the de facto standard.
Professor Charles Oppenheim
Dept of Information Science
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leics LE11 3TU
Tel 01509-223065
Fax 01509-223053
|