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From: ronald@UHUNIX.BITNET (Ronald A. Amundsonl)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: RUBBER STAMP FOR SIGNATURE
Message-ID: <15261@handicap.news>
Date: 1 May 91 03:27:28 GMT
Sender: wtm@bunker.isc-br.com
Reply-To: ronald@UHUNIX.BITNET (Ronald A. Amundsonl)
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Fidonet: Blink Talk Conference

Index Number: 15261

There must not be ALL that much danger in using rubber stamps for
signatures.   The entire population of Japan does it.  They call the
stamp a "han".  It's a little round stamp with Japanese characters on
it, usually used with red ink.  All official documents are "signed"
with the personal stamp -- a real signature wouldn't count.

The Japanese have a couple of advantages over us, though.  First, they
have a national registry of han designs, so the characters you pick
can't match anyone else's.  Second, when I asked my Japanologist
friends about it, they said it would never cross a Japanese person's
mind that his han might be stolen.  Strange country.  Very little
theft.  They seldom use checks, though, so a lot of the han use is to
withdraw cash from banks.

If an American person did start using a rubber stamp, one way to
protect against theft would be to have it include some little insignia
_besides_ the signature.  So if one stamp got stolen, you could get
another one made up, and tell your bank "The Jane Jones signature
stamp with the smiley-face is no longer valid.  Accept only the Jane
Jones signature stamp with the doggy-wagging-its-tail."

By the way, my State of Hawaii payroll checks all come with a rubber
stamp signature of the State Treasurer.  I'd like to get my hands on
THAT sucker.

Cheers,

Ron  Amundson