Re: Legal signatures ramifications

[Brian Negin <negin@cbs.gov.il>]

> Janet Kaul sends the following inquiry:
>
> Our Legal department wants to put all of their contracts online for easier
> searching and so they don't have to fax them to our salespeople. They are
> scanning in signed contracts, as the salespeople need the signatures to
> show customers.
>
> However, they don't want anyone to be able to alter these contracts.
> Apparently, by federal law, any facsimile of a contract with signatures is
> still a legal contract, and we could be held liable for someone who has a
> copy and somehow changes it.
>
> We are scanning the contracts into Acrobat, putting them into a document
> management system, and preventing anyone from saving a copy and changing
> it on their desktop without a password (they have to be able to print to
> take a copy to customers).
>
> Of course, there is still always the opportunity to do a screen shot when
> viewing, or print a copy out, scan it in, and edit it on the desktop
> somehow. These possibilities are frightening our legal department into
> abandoning putting contracts on line. They realize they face the same
> possibilities when faxing contracts to the sales people, but it's on a
> much smaller scale since not all the contracts are easily obtainable that
> way.
>
> Has anyone else faced such a situation? How did you resolve it? Does
> anyone have contracts on line in their systems? Does anyone know of any
> changes to the law that might protect a company in these situations?
>

There are products on the market which are meant to protect images on the
Internet. These are mostly of interest to those marketing images
(photographs, for example), but might provide a solution for your problem.
One such product that has been brought to my attention can be found at
http://www.alchemedia.com/ (this is by no way an endorsement for the
product).

______________________________

Brian Negin, Legal Advisor
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
66 Kanfei Nesharim St.
Jerusalem, Israel
Snail mail: POB 34525, Jerusalem 91342, Israel
Tel: 972-2-6592200
Fax: 972-2-6522319
Email: negin@cbs.gov.il
Web Site: http://www.cbs.gov.il
______________________________