As Microsoft gets closer to releasing Vista, or delaying it once again depending on the source of your favorite rumor, details continue to leak out. None of us should be surprised to hear that the new operating system will break many security products and procedures. None should be surprised businesses will face multiple aggravating and expensive issues migrating to Vista. Migration pain seems to be the reason about half of all corporate desktops still use Windows 2000.
Reader Brad pointed out to me that an Electronic Signatures law was signed by President Clinton and took effect in 2001. Therefore, Brad believes my statements about faxes (faxi?) being the only legal method of legal document transfer are incorrect.
Read Implications of the Electronic Signatures Act for more detail about this issue than you can probably stand. As far as I can tell, electronic commerce contracts can fly all over the Internet and be legal. While I think this is wonderful, I'm not sure it disproves my statement that faxes are the only legally binding way to transmit signatures.
Several readers pointed out that any law declaring faxed signatures legal rather than the same document scanned and e-mailed was pretty silly in light of today's technology. I agree, but logical and legal don't often fit together well. Anyone doubt you can Photoshop a signature from a scanned document to a fax? Or modify a document after scanning, then fax it? Perhaps the hook is phone records for connections to and from fax machines.
If any of you have trouble seeing the Search Wiki I keep talking about to the right of this posting on the main SMB research center page, let me know. I couldn't see it for a week through my Comcast Internet connection, and I thought the page had trouble. Turns out I could see it just fine using my DSL Internet connection from SBC nee AT&T. Odd. When I complained to Comcast, they said it was my fault. Ten minutes later, Comcast now delivers the Search Wiki as well. Ain't coincidences wonderful?
UPDATE: coincidences may be wonderful, but they don't last. After lunch, the search wiki disappeared again. I sent a note to Comcast corporate PR this morning, but have yet to hear back. Anyone else on Comcast having this trouble?
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