On Sat, 2004-04-10 at 11:19, Ken Walker wrote: > I practice law in British Columbia. Although I use Linux on our file and > print server, I have not yet changed the several other workstations to Linux. > I like what I see in OpenOffice and have plans to switch the support staff > over to the windows version of that package and then, if that works out, go > to an all Linux network. > Hi, Ken, in Seattle here. I just helped my lawyer husband transition to Debian testing. I haven't yet met a formatting requirement that cannot be satisfied by OpenOffice. > Suddenly though, there is a problem. Our Law Society and the provincial > government have developed a new system for land title registrations > ( http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/landtitle/EFS_web_site/) and for corporate registry > filings ( http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/landtitle/EFS_web_site/) > > The Land Title system require digital signatures and use pdf format files for > documents submitted. I am not sure at this point whether the Corporate > Registry requires digital signatures. The use of Acrobat Standard v6 is > required for Land Titles and it is only available in MSWindows. See > http://www.juricert.com/j2a/efs.htm. > > Generally the various registries do not seem to recommend use of anything but > Windows and Mac software: > https://www.bconline.gov.bc.ca/system_req.html > The WA state government is not quite that blatant, yet. I just tried to read the "freehold transfer" template. Neither ggv nor gpdf could even read it. gpdf indicates that the template is password locked. So Acrobat 6.0 is not even backward compatible. There are ways to convert a < 6.0 pdf to an editable format, like html, write on it (in openoffice, e.g.), then export it as pdf. But AFAIK, you can't embed a "digital signature", which may be part of the Acrobat 6.0 standard, and non-conformant with existing authentication standards like SSL certificates and GPGP keys. > I am wondering whether any others in the Debian-Lex group have dealt with > these sorts of issues before and in particular whether there is Linux > software capable of editing pdf files and attaching a digital signature the > same way that Acrobat Standard does. > > I suspect that this sort of authentication will be required by various > registries as this sort of interaction with government grows. It is > something we ought to keep in mind as Debian-Lex is developed Yes, indeed we are encountering similar problems. In the US, online filing requirements are rapidly growing, esp. at the federal level. Usually there is still an allowance for a paper filing, but that tends to disappear because of budgetary problems at all levels of government. I think it is an issue that is broader than the Debian-Lex project, however. Not just "code as law", but now "format as law". BTW - there will be a Linuxfest (http://www.linuxnorthwest.org) in Bellingham Sat.4.17, 10-5. VanLUG is a sponsor. Elaine > -- > Ken Walker > http://lunar.ca >
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