Wall Street Journal writes:Signing Up for E-SignaturesMore Companies Are Using New Technology to Cut Costs -- and Fraud By REBECCA BUCKMAN
July 3, 2007; Page A9 Seven years ago, after Congress validated "electronic signatures" in a new law, John Crowley tested the technology with an eye toward using it at his mortgage- and banking-services company. He quickly decided it wouldn't work. The software for computerizing pen-and-ink signatures on contracts, mortgages and other important documents was too complicated for most people to use, said Mr. Crowley, now chief information officer of Fidelity National Financial Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla., surety and title-insurance company. The software involved multiple steps and high-tech "digital certificate" software that people had to download to their computers for extra security, he said. A lot has changed. Today, small companies such as Seattle's DocuSign Inc., Sertifi Inc. of Chicago and EchoSign Inc. of Palo Alto, …
July 3, 2007; Page A9 Seven years ago, after Congress validated "electronic signatures" in a new law, John Crowley tested the technology with an eye toward using it at his mortgage- and banking-services company. He quickly decided it wouldn't work. The software for computerizing pen-and-ink signatures on contracts, mortgages and other important documents was too complicated for most people to use, said Mr. Crowley, now chief information officer of Fidelity National Financial Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla., surety and title-insurance company. The software involved multiple steps and high-tech "digital certificate" software that people had to download to their computers for extra security, he said. A lot has changed. Today, small companies such as Seattle's DocuSign Inc., Sertifi Inc. of Chicago and EchoSign Inc. of Palo Alto, …