Study On Electronic Signature Act Of Taiwan

With the perfection and vigorous development of technology, human society has stepped into the brand new era of electronics. Traditional written documents, autographs and signature, which used to be commonly used for confirming rights and responsibilities as well as transactions, have been gradually replaced by electronic documents and electronic signature. However, there are some hidden unsafe factors in the virtual cyber space, such as the regulations for the safety of the internet and the inevitable danger which is caused by the transmission of the electronic deal and electronic documents. How to reduce the risks to minimum and how to protect communications and deals in the virtual cyber space through the law are urgent problems for us to discuss.Recently, the technology of "digital signature" and "electronic signature" has been a quite popular topic all over the world and this technology is viewed as the most effective method to protect legal internet citizens. This dissertation focuses on the recent development of E—business and the legislation of electronic signature in Taiwan area. This dissertation also introduces the changes of different legislation drafts in Taiwan, from the 1997 drafts to the 1998,1999 and 2000 drafts. With the developing understanding of the digital signature and electronic signature, Taiwan has been looking for its own suitable Electronic Signature Act through constant legislative research and discussion.In view of the purpose of Taiwan Electronic Signature Act, this dissertation discusses how to build up a reliable environment for cyber transactions by the means of bestowing electronic documents and electronic signature with legal protection and how to protect the correction and integrity of information by the means of finding out whether some information has been faked, misrepresented or stolen and of identifying every party of the transaction. The last part of this dissertation further discusses the functions of Certification Authority and the influences brought by electronic signature and other related industries, which may be used as reference for China.