Re: Clipper III analysis

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.  >>
>
>> 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.
>
>> 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."

Tim:

On Wed, 29 May 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:

> The issue with digital signatures is who _signed_ a document, not who
> _wrote_ a document.

	For legal contracts and electronic cheques, yes.

	I was thinking of other uses for digital signatures, where
	being able to authenticate who wrote the document is the
	issue.

        xan

        jonathon
        grafolog@netcom.com


	

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