I’m ‘exchanging contracts’ with a publisher for something right now. I signed two copies (two!) and they insisted on them being physically shipped. This isn’t unusual, or particular to them, but now that FedEx have seemingly lost the ‘parcel’, it makes me reflect on the insanity of the situation.
There are three types of business:
1) Businesses that allow you to email you an agreement, or at the very least, print out a document, sign it, scan it abck in and email it back. Needless hassle, but the best of the three. (I know for a fact that they can’t tell if I just pasted a fake signature from photoshop onto the document without bothering with the print/scan bit).
2) Businesses that won’t accept that, but will accept a FAX. This is the most insane of the three, because the people at these obviously do not realise that a fax gets converted into bit and bytes, and so does an email. A fax is just a really special=purpose clunky way to email a scan.
3) Businesses that insist on a physical copy.
The physical copy thing amazes me. what IS the difference? Is it REALLY harder for someone to ‘forge’ a contract signature by physical mail than it is by email / fax? Do they think that if it goes to court, that forensic teams will carry out analysis of the paper fibres and handwriting and proclaim it to be original or a fake? Is this REALLY going to happen?
People have forgotten that paper was used to send INFORMATION, and contracts were used for that purpose. We have moved on from fingerprints or making an ‘x’. We do not need to squirt some extract of a squid on parchment and then put it on the fastest coach and horses any more. Some clever dudes invented email.
Presidents, Soldiers, Criminals, Journalists, even my retired father and my technology-hating old boss who makes wooden rowing boats have all embraced EMAIL. Join us lawyers… you are late… but you are welcome…