Chargebacks are frustrating. You work too hard on your online business to sit and watch the profits you've earned disappear through the dishonesty of a customer, and because of the current inadequacy of internet contracts and agreements.
Thankfully, there is now a way forward to a future without this costly form of fraud. Signaturelink.com is offering anyone who does business over the internet a way to capture a legal signature from a buyer. This legal signature makes it impossible for the buyer to claim that they had never initiated contact for the product or service. The signature link program not only captures the buyer's signature, it also records information such as the date and time of the transaction, and even the IP address from where the order was placed. You can see how it's going to be pretty difficult for someone to deny initiating a purchase, when you have their signature captured electronically, and you can prove that the computer used was registered out of their household!
Banks love a paper trail; and as any frustrated e merchant knows, if you don't have a signature, you can't reverse a chargeback. With this new software you can prove to the bank that the customer signed an agreement that stated clearly both the total cost and the terms and conditions of the sale. If you have met this burden of proof, then banks will overturn a chargeback.
The signature makes the transaction legally binding. No one can argue about the terms of the transaction after they have physically signed an agreement on that transaction; if you have the signature, the transaction is legally binding.. Criminals won't be tempted to try you after being required to make a signed agreement of the terms of sale. Why give away the evidence that could lead to their prosecution, when there are thousand of other e-merchants out there that don't require this signatory step.You will also develop credibility with your bank. They will appreciate that you always have the appropriate documentation to resolve any disputes. They will come to trust you as a reliable merchant, and will look at future disagreements in your favor.You'll never again be held hostage to the currently unreasonable state of business affairs on the internet. By raising you e-business to the same standards of agreements used in all legal contracts, you'll be safe from fraud.
Monday, May 7, 2007
No-More Chargebacks With Online Signature Software
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
ESign and Their Impact on Small Businesses
October 1, 2000, marked a great step forward for online businesses. That’s the date that the new Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) took effect. The ESIGN law allows businesses to enter into legally enforceable transactions and contracts over the internet and prevents a contract from being declared void simply because it is in an electronic format.
Prior to the ESIGN law, vendors like mortgage brokers could do many things online—find customers, provide information, and even take applications. However, in order to enter into an enforceable contract, vendors had to mail a customer paper copies of promissory notes and mortgage papers to obtain an original signature. Not only did this greatly slow down transactions, it added huge costs to vendors who sought to sell their services online. However, ESIGN made this last hurdle almost entirely vanish.
ESIGN’s significance is rooted in contract law—specifically state laws, which generally govern contracts. When dealing with interstate commerce, the federal government can pass laws that overrule otherwise applicable state laws, however, this preemptive power is generally used very sparingly in contract law.
Even though states have increasingly passed uniform commercial laws, there are still substantial differences between various states. In 1991, the federal government attempted to encourage consistency between the states with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which was a model act to govern e-commerce transactions. While two of the leading commercial states, Pennsylvania and Ohio, adopted versions of UETA, most other states were only beginning to discuss the issue. Rather than uniformity, the result of the UETA act was uncertainty about if and when an electronic contract could be enforced.
The ESIGN act establishes a basic framework which states must operate within if they want to enact laws to govern electronic contracts, eliminating that uncertainty. If a state chooses not to adopt UETA or another law, ESIGN’s provisions will govern the e-contracts of that state. ESIGN also prohibits states from refusing to enforce electronic contracts simply because of the electronic format, or due to the use of an electronic signature. It also prevents states from requiring vendors to use any specific technology to create electronic signatures.
ESIGN also gives consumers important protections. For example, it ensures that consumer protection laws, such as those specifying content and timing of legal notices, and full disclosure, must be identical for e-contracts as for paper contracts. Online vendors are to be held to the same antifraud and deception provisions as vendors who operate offline. However, the most important consumer protection is that online vendors must give consumers a choice of electronic or paper contracts. No customer can be forced to use electronic contracts if they do not wish it.
And finally, before an electronic contract is enforceable, vendors must give consumers at least the same level of consumer protections—such as privacy and documentation—as a consumer using paper methods would receive. That means that vendors must maintain secure systems that are capable of preserving electronic records, so they may be accurately reproduced at a later date for reference by relevant parties.
ESIGN and UETA have important qualifications. For example, the laws are applicable for sale or leasing of goods, but do not apply to the creation of security interests or the sale of chattel paper or secured leasing transactions. Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which came into effect on July 1, 2001, addressed these issues. However, states may still take time to adopt all the provisions. Dealers in chattel paper may still be forced to rely on paper-based transactions. UETA and ESIGN also facilitate the transfer of electronic records. While ESIGN mostly limits its definition of electronic records to the making of mortgage-backed promissory notes, UETA’s much broader definition of electronic records includes other title documents. One other quirk is that ESIGN’s provisions regarding mortgage-backed securities specifically pre-empts any state law which may conflict with it—including UETA.
For more information on legally enforcable contracts for ESign please visit
http://www.signaturelink.com
Prior to the ESIGN law, vendors like mortgage brokers could do many things online—find customers, provide information, and even take applications. However, in order to enter into an enforceable contract, vendors had to mail a customer paper copies of promissory notes and mortgage papers to obtain an original signature. Not only did this greatly slow down transactions, it added huge costs to vendors who sought to sell their services online. However, ESIGN made this last hurdle almost entirely vanish.
ESIGN’s significance is rooted in contract law—specifically state laws, which generally govern contracts. When dealing with interstate commerce, the federal government can pass laws that overrule otherwise applicable state laws, however, this preemptive power is generally used very sparingly in contract law.
Even though states have increasingly passed uniform commercial laws, there are still substantial differences between various states. In 1991, the federal government attempted to encourage consistency between the states with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which was a model act to govern e-commerce transactions. While two of the leading commercial states, Pennsylvania and Ohio, adopted versions of UETA, most other states were only beginning to discuss the issue. Rather than uniformity, the result of the UETA act was uncertainty about if and when an electronic contract could be enforced.
The ESIGN act establishes a basic framework which states must operate within if they want to enact laws to govern electronic contracts, eliminating that uncertainty. If a state chooses not to adopt UETA or another law, ESIGN’s provisions will govern the e-contracts of that state. ESIGN also prohibits states from refusing to enforce electronic contracts simply because of the electronic format, or due to the use of an electronic signature. It also prevents states from requiring vendors to use any specific technology to create electronic signatures.
ESIGN also gives consumers important protections. For example, it ensures that consumer protection laws, such as those specifying content and timing of legal notices, and full disclosure, must be identical for e-contracts as for paper contracts. Online vendors are to be held to the same antifraud and deception provisions as vendors who operate offline. However, the most important consumer protection is that online vendors must give consumers a choice of electronic or paper contracts. No customer can be forced to use electronic contracts if they do not wish it.
And finally, before an electronic contract is enforceable, vendors must give consumers at least the same level of consumer protections—such as privacy and documentation—as a consumer using paper methods would receive. That means that vendors must maintain secure systems that are capable of preserving electronic records, so they may be accurately reproduced at a later date for reference by relevant parties.
ESIGN and UETA have important qualifications. For example, the laws are applicable for sale or leasing of goods, but do not apply to the creation of security interests or the sale of chattel paper or secured leasing transactions. Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which came into effect on July 1, 2001, addressed these issues. However, states may still take time to adopt all the provisions. Dealers in chattel paper may still be forced to rely on paper-based transactions. UETA and ESIGN also facilitate the transfer of electronic records. While ESIGN mostly limits its definition of electronic records to the making of mortgage-backed promissory notes, UETA’s much broader definition of electronic records includes other title documents. One other quirk is that ESIGN’s provisions regarding mortgage-backed securities specifically pre-empts any state law which may conflict with it—including UETA.
For more information on legally enforcable contracts for ESign please visit
http://www.signaturelink.com
Monday, April 16, 2007
Digital Signatures and Online Mortgages
In the United States, millions of people and companies have changed from using the internet for information to employing it for business. Account management, electronic bill presentation, and online account payment are all common uses. The next step in the e-commerce revolution is consumers and businesses actually entering into transactions online, and it is already here. Legislation has been passed to enable this—the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN), which were passed into law in 1999 and 2000, respectively. These laws help companies to conduct business efficiently over the internet by giving legal recognition and force to electronic signatures and records.
Electronic files that use the ESIGN and UETA laws are available to both residential and commercial mortgage lenders. These electronic records can be used to legally meet the requirements that information or records be provided to consumers “in writing.” However, the consumer must first agree to the use of these electronic records. MBA and its strategic partners describe how to handle these new disclosures and the conversion from paper to digital formats, as applies to mortgage transactions.
In the context of commercial real estate finance, borrowers, lenders, and vendors have the choice of electronically executing contracts, loans, and agreements rather than using traditional paper methods. These are legally considered to be equally valid as written documents when both parties satisfy the requirements to attain compliance with electronic signature laws. This includes the consent of the user to the electronic execution option and that the provider meets all identity verification requirements.
The ESIGN laws established that transactions made electronically are equally valid as those made using traditional pen-and-ink signatures. This opens the way for great benefits for the mortgage industry. Also, consumers benefit from electronic signatures that do away with the masses of paperwork that slow and complicate their transactions.
Electronic files that use the ESIGN and UETA laws are available to both residential and commercial mortgage lenders. These electronic records can be used to legally meet the requirements that information or records be provided to consumers “in writing.” However, the consumer must first agree to the use of these electronic records. MBA and its strategic partners describe how to handle these new disclosures and the conversion from paper to digital formats, as applies to mortgage transactions.
In the context of commercial real estate finance, borrowers, lenders, and vendors have the choice of electronically executing contracts, loans, and agreements rather than using traditional paper methods. These are legally considered to be equally valid as written documents when both parties satisfy the requirements to attain compliance with electronic signature laws. This includes the consent of the user to the electronic execution option and that the provider meets all identity verification requirements.
The ESIGN laws established that transactions made electronically are equally valid as those made using traditional pen-and-ink signatures. This opens the way for great benefits for the mortgage industry. Also, consumers benefit from electronic signatures that do away with the masses of paperwork that slow and complicate their transactions.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Security Bugs in PKI Leave Openings For Hackers
A pair of flaws in the open-source GNU Privacy Guard program, also called GnuPG or GPG, could allow an attacker to upload unauthorized content into a PKI signed message, or possibly forge signatures on digital files. The GPG software is a free replacement for the Pretty Good Privacy cryptographic software and is shipped with many operating systems, including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, or many Linux distributions.
What does this mean for businesses? It could pose a threat to the reliability and value of PKI signatures, says an email from the Gentoo Linux security team. Should an attacker discover these flaws, they could add information to email security alerts or forge PKI signatures on unauthorized software updates.
Those who use the open-source PKI technology to verify the authenticity of emails or PKI signed files could be at risk, as could those who receive and use those files and messages.
PKI are often used, for example, by Linux and Unix distributors to send authenticated security announcements to their customers. PKI signatures are also used in certain software updates put out by these companies so their customers can be assured that the data they are receiving has not been tampered with. In short, the GPG technology is used in many ways to guarantee the authenticity of files, updates, and messages. Without this assurance, false “security updates” and emails with malicious files attached could become a daily occurrence.
Systems that need fixing include those that rely on GPG to distribute software updates, especially on Linux. Updates will be required to prevent any malicious alterations of software and data on these systems.
The GnuPG team has created fixes for the security flaws. Additionally, for those who have included the GPG technology in their products, updates have been offered to fix the problems. Another patch has been released to fix a flaw that would make it possible for an unauthorized person to insert data into a PKI signed message. This would mean that systems would still see this unauthorized data as authentic.
This flaw was discovered while researching an earlier problem for which a patch had already been release. That problem could cause automated signature checkers to verify a forged PKI signature as authentic and consider a malicious file safe.
As of yet, no reports have surfaced of attacks that exploit these vulnerabilities. However, users of this software are urged to install the security updates as soon as possible to ensure the protection of their systems.
Companies like SignatureLink overcome this obstical by using a secure online biometric signature that can be done with a mouse, touchscreen or PDA. This is not to be confused with older technology of digital signatures such as PKI signature.
For more information on secure digital signatures please go to http://www.signaturelink.com
What does this mean for businesses? It could pose a threat to the reliability and value of PKI signatures, says an email from the Gentoo Linux security team. Should an attacker discover these flaws, they could add information to email security alerts or forge PKI signatures on unauthorized software updates.
Those who use the open-source PKI technology to verify the authenticity of emails or PKI signed files could be at risk, as could those who receive and use those files and messages.
PKI are often used, for example, by Linux and Unix distributors to send authenticated security announcements to their customers. PKI signatures are also used in certain software updates put out by these companies so their customers can be assured that the data they are receiving has not been tampered with. In short, the GPG technology is used in many ways to guarantee the authenticity of files, updates, and messages. Without this assurance, false “security updates” and emails with malicious files attached could become a daily occurrence.
Systems that need fixing include those that rely on GPG to distribute software updates, especially on Linux. Updates will be required to prevent any malicious alterations of software and data on these systems.
The GnuPG team has created fixes for the security flaws. Additionally, for those who have included the GPG technology in their products, updates have been offered to fix the problems. Another patch has been released to fix a flaw that would make it possible for an unauthorized person to insert data into a PKI signed message. This would mean that systems would still see this unauthorized data as authentic.
This flaw was discovered while researching an earlier problem for which a patch had already been release. That problem could cause automated signature checkers to verify a forged PKI signature as authentic and consider a malicious file safe.
As of yet, no reports have surfaced of attacks that exploit these vulnerabilities. However, users of this software are urged to install the security updates as soon as possible to ensure the protection of their systems.
Companies like SignatureLink overcome this obstical by using a secure online biometric signature that can be done with a mouse, touchscreen or PDA. This is not to be confused with older technology of digital signatures such as PKI signature.
For more information on secure digital signatures please go to http://www.signaturelink.com
Monday, April 2, 2007
Digital Signatures – The Wave of the Future
The pharmaceutical industry has been using digital industries to sign FDA submission and other applications. If it’s safe for the pharmaceutical industry to use, then it’s even safer for those mortgage brokers and real estate agents to use. Think of the time that you can save if all of the contracts and other documents could be signed digitally instead of having to set up appointments to meet with everyone. The chain of events could be handled in a course of minutes from real estate agent to mortgage broker who would then begin processing the information for the buyer. To take it one step further, why not let the original sales contract go from the buyer to real estate agent to seller and then to mortgage broker? It’s already possible to apply for a pre-approved mortgage online, so a digital signature would simply make the process of finalizing the loan smoother and quicker for both buyer and seller.
As we look to the future, the concept of Esignature catching on within the mortgage and real estate industries is quite real and inevitable. After all, even five or ten years ago, we would never have thought of using an electronic signature to pay our bills, but today many people pay the majority of their bills online using either a standard electronic signature or the more secure digital signature. Allow yourself to be one of the first companies to experience the value of legally binding digital signatures with the help of the experts at SignatureLink.
With the majority of families being two-income families, it’s difficult sometimes for a real estate or mortgage broker to catch up with the buyers or sellers of a property at the same time in order to finalize a sales contract or mortgage application, but with digital technology in place, each can sign as it is convenient for them.
With many people today also changing jobs and moving to other towns, it means that a real estate agent doesn’t have to rush things along so that he can get all of the signatures before the buyer or seller leaves town for their new home. For companies who are taking over a home because an employee is being transferred, it means they don’t have to meet with the real estate broker in person; all contracts can be signed and verified online using safe and secure digital signatures. SignatureLink is well equipped to assist you with any questions or needs you may have.
for more information on digital signatures visit http://www.signaturelink.com
As we look to the future, the concept of Esignature catching on within the mortgage and real estate industries is quite real and inevitable. After all, even five or ten years ago, we would never have thought of using an electronic signature to pay our bills, but today many people pay the majority of their bills online using either a standard electronic signature or the more secure digital signature. Allow yourself to be one of the first companies to experience the value of legally binding digital signatures with the help of the experts at SignatureLink.
With the majority of families being two-income families, it’s difficult sometimes for a real estate or mortgage broker to catch up with the buyers or sellers of a property at the same time in order to finalize a sales contract or mortgage application, but with digital technology in place, each can sign as it is convenient for them.
With many people today also changing jobs and moving to other towns, it means that a real estate agent doesn’t have to rush things along so that he can get all of the signatures before the buyer or seller leaves town for their new home. For companies who are taking over a home because an employee is being transferred, it means they don’t have to meet with the real estate broker in person; all contracts can be signed and verified online using safe and secure digital signatures. SignatureLink is well equipped to assist you with any questions or needs you may have.
for more information on digital signatures visit http://www.signaturelink.com
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Dealing with the Legality of Digital Signatures
Taking a look at the contract laws of the United States and the different laws is what the Statue of Frauds is all about. You must take a look at the different and new forms of the commerce that are done electronically, and how the different and new relationships have started to be a challenge, when it comes to what a contract actually means. There are many new tribulations when it comes to new relationships dealing with contracts, because of the rise of electronic commerce. This has shed a new light on the definition of a signature, and with legally what constitutes a signature.
In most traditional sense, the Statue of Frauds is a term that gives rise to the different statutory provisions that will allow for the denial of the enforcement of different forms of contracts, unless these forms are done in writing and are also signed by the different parties. This would mean that all of the contracts done in electronic media were null and void. The premise is that there is no way to tell if the contract has been signed, and therefore no way to tell if it is legal.
The legal enforceability of some digital signatures are
not protected such as PKI signatures. Digital Digitized signatures are enforceable because they are covered under other commerce laws that deal with signatures along with E-sign and UETA. This is an area of the internet law that has been fairly well settled, so there is little reason to assume that this part is lacking attention.
PKI digital signatures are not handwritten signatures. These aren’t like digital digitized signatures, and they are used less often. There is a problem with PKI digital signatures, it does not pertain to what the signature means, or the legality. For all intents and purposes, the signatures that are done with PKI show a transaction has taken place. However, the problem lies in the fact that these signatures are created and found in ways that can’t be controlled. This is where the problems in validity lie.
If you are going to accept a PKI digital signature, you must be sure that you are controlling how the signature is obtained. The reason is that there are a lot of programs that can impart signatures and that can send them. Therefore, in order to make sure that the signature is collected legally, you must be responsible for how this is done. You have to ensure it is the signature that you intend to use. Otherwise, there is no way to prove that the signature is actually legal. You can’t rely on a typed name digital certificate, or a pin number to make it legal. It is the intent of a signer that put effort to show that a transaction took place.
Even though there are many problems, the idea of digital signatures is only going to get bigger in the future. This is because there are many transactions that will happen online and each company has to be prepared to figure out how to handle these without, making any legal problems. As a consumer you have to be sure you are reading everything completely and that you are making sure you are taking every chance to read the information before you click anything. If you are on the other end, you must be sure that you are obtaining digital digitized signatures this is the most legal way possible to do an e-contract. For more information on digital signatures visit http://www.signaturelink.com/
In most traditional sense, the Statue of Frauds is a term that gives rise to the different statutory provisions that will allow for the denial of the enforcement of different forms of contracts, unless these forms are done in writing and are also signed by the different parties. This would mean that all of the contracts done in electronic media were null and void. The premise is that there is no way to tell if the contract has been signed, and therefore no way to tell if it is legal.
The legal enforceability of some digital signatures are
not protected such as PKI signatures. Digital Digitized signatures are enforceable because they are covered under other commerce laws that deal with signatures along with E-sign and UETA. This is an area of the internet law that has been fairly well settled, so there is little reason to assume that this part is lacking attention.
PKI digital signatures are not handwritten signatures. These aren’t like digital digitized signatures, and they are used less often. There is a problem with PKI digital signatures, it does not pertain to what the signature means, or the legality. For all intents and purposes, the signatures that are done with PKI show a transaction has taken place. However, the problem lies in the fact that these signatures are created and found in ways that can’t be controlled. This is where the problems in validity lie.
If you are going to accept a PKI digital signature, you must be sure that you are controlling how the signature is obtained. The reason is that there are a lot of programs that can impart signatures and that can send them. Therefore, in order to make sure that the signature is collected legally, you must be responsible for how this is done. You have to ensure it is the signature that you intend to use. Otherwise, there is no way to prove that the signature is actually legal. You can’t rely on a typed name digital certificate, or a pin number to make it legal. It is the intent of a signer that put effort to show that a transaction took place.
Even though there are many problems, the idea of digital signatures is only going to get bigger in the future. This is because there are many transactions that will happen online and each company has to be prepared to figure out how to handle these without, making any legal problems. As a consumer you have to be sure you are reading everything completely and that you are making sure you are taking every chance to read the information before you click anything. If you are on the other end, you must be sure that you are obtaining digital digitized signatures this is the most legal way possible to do an e-contract. For more information on digital signatures visit http://www.signaturelink.com/
Monday, March 26, 2007
Taking Homeownership to the Next Level - eMortgages
In the past, a mortgage was the kind of paperwork that required endless meetings in stuffy conference rooms and a flurry of paperwork that needed to be signed by all parties. Hours were required to read through each packet of paperwork, and many times the documents were either not read at all, or the conscientious signatories would have to spend the better part of a workday in a conference room going through each piece of paper.
All this has changed with the arrival of eMortgages, the online extension of the mortage industry that permits for the process to now be handled electronically via the Internet. Just as legally binding as their papery counterparts, the eMortgage is a legally binding contract that has the backing of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. Added protection to all parties is offered by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. SignatureLink can help you incorporate eMortgages into your business.
With the recent housing boom on the West Coast in particular, the usage of eMortgages has mushroomed, and consumers as well as mortgage companies hail the advent of the esignature as the new way of doing business in a society that more and more strives to become paperless. In the industry that creates these documents – known as the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization eMortgage Workgroup – the big push toward standardization of eMortgage documentation, requirements and execution is bearing good fruit.
Data is now being standardized and electronic signatures are accepted for the execution of the documents online. Thus, these documents are legally binding and enforceable, protecting both the consumer and the bank, and permitting a new level of flexibility with respect to the speed with which transactions can be done from beginning to end. What used to take at least one month to accomplish, is now oftentimes finished in less than two weeks. This in and of itself offers the homebuyer a much needed edge in that it promises the seller a speedy transactions and money in their pockets faster and with less hassle. Lenders and borrowers alike have indicated that this is the kind of business they want to continue doing, and as such more and more lenders are jumping on the bandwagon of accepting this kind of eCommerce.
The time is not too far away when eMortgages will become the way of the doing business, and the times of sellers and buyers being stuck in stuffy conference rooms with attorneys, bankers, and clerks present will become a thing of the past.
For more information on doing mortgage contracts and signatures online go to
http://www.signaturelink.com
All this has changed with the arrival of eMortgages, the online extension of the mortage industry that permits for the process to now be handled electronically via the Internet. Just as legally binding as their papery counterparts, the eMortgage is a legally binding contract that has the backing of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. Added protection to all parties is offered by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. SignatureLink can help you incorporate eMortgages into your business.
With the recent housing boom on the West Coast in particular, the usage of eMortgages has mushroomed, and consumers as well as mortgage companies hail the advent of the esignature as the new way of doing business in a society that more and more strives to become paperless. In the industry that creates these documents – known as the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization eMortgage Workgroup – the big push toward standardization of eMortgage documentation, requirements and execution is bearing good fruit.
Data is now being standardized and electronic signatures are accepted for the execution of the documents online. Thus, these documents are legally binding and enforceable, protecting both the consumer and the bank, and permitting a new level of flexibility with respect to the speed with which transactions can be done from beginning to end. What used to take at least one month to accomplish, is now oftentimes finished in less than two weeks. This in and of itself offers the homebuyer a much needed edge in that it promises the seller a speedy transactions and money in their pockets faster and with less hassle. Lenders and borrowers alike have indicated that this is the kind of business they want to continue doing, and as such more and more lenders are jumping on the bandwagon of accepting this kind of eCommerce.
The time is not too far away when eMortgages will become the way of the doing business, and the times of sellers and buyers being stuck in stuffy conference rooms with attorneys, bankers, and clerks present will become a thing of the past.
For more information on doing mortgage contracts and signatures online go to
http://www.signaturelink.com
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