Are E-Checks Far Behind E-Cash on the Internet?Are E-Checks Far Behind E-Cash on the Internet?
Virtual checks for payment on the Internet could be transmitted via the Internet if they could be handled in a secure method and a signature could be verified as we do in the receipt of physical checks today.
Well, the solution to this problem may well have already arrived. Specifications for a new standard called "Secure Electronic Transactions" have been accepted by the big three, VISA, MasterCard and American Express. (Can Discover be far behind?) If you missed it, comments on this have been going on through the Internet.
This method is based on something called the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman algorithm, or RSA, and can be licensed from RSA. The signature is made up of the user's name, address and other data which creates a digital signature, if you will. You should find it interesting that California and Utah have already enacted legislation recognizing digital signatures as legally binding.
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