The Research Of Electronic Signature Law

Any revolution of science and technology may cause changes of the law and economy. So is the same with the production and development of information technology. The popularization and extension of computers and the internet provides physical foundation for further development of economy. More and more economic activities are being completed on the internet. And the network economy has become an economy form that can bring tremendous economy advantages through being a fictions area. More and more business are being done in the form of EDI and what we usually call'Electronic commerce'and other forms in international trade. These forms use methods of storage and communication which differ from the traditional methods that are based on paper. The rapid progress of modern IT and network economy brings hope for both the increase of economy and the development of society. But it also brings a lot of new problems to the society. The present legal systems can not deal with these new problems,for the presence of the network economy leads to concussions and challenges to it. So it becomes necessary to use network laws to regulate these activities."Electronic signature" means data in electronic form in, affixed to or logically associated with, a data message, which may be used to identify the signatory in relation to the data message and to indicate the signatory's approval of the information contained in the data message. Both parties may not see each other in the process of transaction in the EC. It is very difficult to use traditional signature for this business based on network. Problems as how to make the offer and acceptance have the reliability and how to make the party who breaches of faith to bear the liability when he does not carry out the obligation in the contract,are involved in the affirmation of the identity of the parties who participate in the transaction. Electronic signature can identify the identity of the message sender and the credibility and integrality of the electronic data, and it is unique for each sender and each sent message. The use of electronic signature can confirm: It can assure the message is signed by the right person and prevent the signatory from denying. The message has not been modified since it was sent. Electronic Signature is a kind of signature, and its function is basic equal to the function of traditional hand-written signature. Electronic Signature Law is originally product of economical globalization, therefore it has the international characteristic obviously.The network is the basis of Network Finance and Electronic Business, and the network security relates directly to the network transaction security. Electronic Signature is a kind of specialized recognition and confirmation method in the modern information society, and it provides the safety control mechanism for the network transaction and the business management on the net. Technical progress and legal rules and regulations are extremely essential in the developing process of network, and Electronic Signature is closely linked with the rapid development of network. Electronic Signature Law is the most essential basis and the most important legal safeguard for realizing electronic document legitimate management and approving the electronic document legal effect till now. In 1991,US started to draft Digital Signature Demonstration Law. Our nation has already emerged the electronic signature authentication application upsurge since Electronic Signature Law was passed in 2004. Electronic Signature has been legislated, but legal problem of Electronic Signature should be studied.This article altogether is composed of five chapters:The first chapter mainly carries on the outline to the international electronic signature, including the origination, the concept and the operation flow of the electronic signature.The second chapter mainly elaborates the international electronic signature legislation, including the correlation legislation of the United Nations Trade Law Committee, International Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Organization, European Union, American, Germany, and so on typical nations.The third chapter mainly elaborates the technology neutralism principle, the honest and credit principle and the function equality principle of Electronic Signature Law of China.The fourth chapter mainly elaborates electronic signature technology and its development environment. Through analyzing the related questions, the counter measures, law making defects and technology safety problems some legislation on the perfection of the election signature accordingly.This article introduces the conceptions and legal characters of electronic signature, and studies the legal forms,legal demands, application scope, factions of electronic signature. It also introduces and analyzes some legislation and legal documents of other countries and international institutes that are related to the electronic signature. The author does some researches and tries to make some conclusions based upon that result, and also tries to advance some constructive ideas for Electronic Signature Law of China.