What legislation permits digital signatures?

Question

If the European Directive (EC Directive 99/93 on Electronic Signatures) sets out guidelines for a technology-neutral approach to signatures - how do I find out which particular areas UK legislation and contract law follow these guidelines (permitting digital signatures) and which do not?

Answer 1

The UK legislation dealing with this area includes the Electronic Communications Act 2000 which provides a broad definition of an "electronic signature" as follows:

"anything in electronic form which is:

(a) incorporated into or otherwise logically associated with any electronic communication or electronic data; and

(b) purports to be so incorporated or associated for the purpose of being used in establishing the authenticity of a communication or data, the integrity of the communication or data, or both."

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In the US it's the DMCA.