Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Path: utzoo!utgpu!cunews!bnrgate!bwdls61!pww
From: pww@bnr.ca (Peter Whittaker)
Subject: Re: Certified SMTP mail
Message-ID: <1991Feb18.182416.180@bwdls61.bnr.ca>
Sender: usenet@bwdls61.bnr.ca (Use Net)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ltd., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
References: <9102181435.AA05874@nscultrix1.network.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 1991 18:24:16 GMT

In article <9102181435.AA05874@nscultrix1.network.com> dotytr@NSCULTRIX1.NETWORK.COM (Ted R. Doty) writes:
>While I'm not a lawyer, my understanding of the legal status of email is that
>it does not have any of the protections accorded to paper (Post Office) mail.
>
>This may be a case of a solvable (eventually) *technical* problem but an
>insoluable social one.


One solution is to send only encrypted mail, preferably something encrypted
using the intended recipient's public key:  the recipient is therefore the
only person who can decrypt it.  (For more information, check out articles
or books on Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) or Public Key CryptoSystems (PKCS).
See also CCITT X.509).  The solution ends up being technical rather than
social.:->

Of course, an employer might disallow encrypted mail on corporate systems....



--
Peter Whittaker      [~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]   Open Systems Integration
pww@bnr.ca           [                          ]   Bell Northern Research 
Ph: +1 613 765 2064  [                          ]   P.O. Box 3511, Station C
FAX:+1 613 763 3283  [__________________________]   Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4H7