Erik's right about the "shared secrets" we in the United States have with the IRS. I prove I am who I am by telling them what value was on line such-and-such of last year's tax return. And perhaps there is some precedent there: What happens if I can't give them this shared secret? You guessed it, I have to snail-mail them a form with my signature. :-)
The reason I can send a signed FAX to my credit union to change my address is because they already have my signature on file. They can compare the two and be reasonably certain I am who I am. I also need to provide my account number, which would be difficult for someone who isn't me to get a hold of. I've never received a loan -- like, gone through the whole process and received the check -- without signing something in person. Maybe that was just me.
I don't think banks (or the United States federal government) are worried about getting in trouble over copyright infringement in these cases, they just want to make sure there isn't some scam going on; they need to know who they are dealing with. The contest is certainly less worried about out-and-out fraud and is more worried about an image's copyright.
Check with the lawyers, but I think contestants still need to sign and mail their forms. On the other hand, this contest may be totally illegal in some states that have strange laws regarding contests and giveaways (must be a certain age, no purchase necessary, etc., etc.). But what state's Attorney General is going to be like, "Yeah, those AGA guys and gals! They must be stopped!" Or maybe Frank McKenna is thinking something like, "Aquascaping contest? Not in my country, sir. Not in my country."
:-) Dave VanderWall On May 7, 2005, at 8:11 AM, Erik Olson wrote:
I don't think we'll be able to do something of this degree. I think the way the IRS/TurboTax deals with this is that certain information such as the previous year's tax is your "signature" for this year's electronic return. But it ultimately comes down to some "trusted" way of identifying yourself.Let's find out if the scan/fax is acceptable and go with that. - Erik On Sat, 7 May 2005, S. Hieber wrote:Digitally secured signatures shouldn't be any problem if you have the software, license, and set up. There's a whole truckload of legal briefs on them on the web, including the advantages and disadvantages. It's basically, asui, pretty much like setting up a shopping cart but with the shopper verified or uniquely identified. It's the verification part that's the pita. How does Erik know Phil isn't using my name when he sends in my photos? Okay, I know, Phil would *never* use my photos -- but I'm making a hypothetical. sh --- Phil Edwards <biotypical@hotmail.com> wrote:For the past three years I've used a PIN given me by the IRS to electronically sign my FAFSA to continue my indebtedness. It's legal and binding enough for them, why not have something similar for us? "By entering (or checking the box here) you are in effect signing your name and agreeing to the terms above in a legally binding manner." Something along those lines should work.
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