(no subject)

From: Susan Murray <nviclassical_at_postoffice.att.net>
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 08:50:09 -0500 (CDT)

MATTHEW DA SILVA WROTE:
>A notary system could roll, but I suspect adequate commitment,
>finally, to ensure continuity.

As a licensed notary public, I don't see how the concept
could possibly work with electronically published content.

First of all, what body will oversee the licensing of
internet notaries? In the non-virtual world, U.S. notaries
are regulated by their states, and in my state, one must be
nominated by the a member of the state legislature in order
to become a notary public.

Second, who would pay for the bureaucracy that would result
from the creation of a virtual notary system? In the
non-virtual world, administration is paid for by taxes and
notaries are paid by those using their services.

And third, when a document is notarized, the notary embosses
the document with a seal attesting to the authenticity of
the document. In other words, the notarized document cannot
be changed without voiding the notarization. Obviously, a
web site which could not be changed would be absurd.

In reality, what you're talking about are "content
inspectors" rather than notaries public who attest to
authenticity.

In the private sector, content inspectors are also known as
directory editors. Under an official "notary" system, the
end result would be an institutionalized Yahoo. Does anyone
really want that?

Cheers,

Susan Murray
Webmaster
Hi-Fi Heaven
http://www.hifiheaven.com


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Received on Wed May 19 1999 - 10:00:09 CDT