I have received email about a previous version of the Digital ID page from someone at VeriSign (or someone who can forge return addresses from VeriSign, since the identity of the email origin was not confirmed in any way). The email was sent to the wrong address but was forwarded to me by the recipient.

This email has been published at the suggestion of the author. 

Date: Wed, 01 May 1996 15:35:55 -0700
From: Peter Williams <peter@verisign.com>
Reply-To: peter@verisign.com
Organization: VeriSign, Inc
To: webmaster@swcp.com
Subject: copyright

on page http://www.digicrime.com/id.html

You have an image probably of a verisign certificate, displayed
by Netscape Navigator. There is also a text display of information
from a certificate, obtained probably from a Verisign service.

I would like to indicate to you that the information contains
a copyright notice which restricts the repurposing of
the information. I would encourge you to ensure that the
purpose(s) for which you are using the certificate, by publishing
its content, is/are covered by the subcribers issuing agreement,
and/or the copyright notice.

This memo is a bit of fun. I would encourage you to place
its contents before the readers of the page, so they may
debate or otherwise consider the legal and any
consequential social issues presented.

Here is my response

  1. According to Section 107 of Title 7 of the U.S. Code (see this document from the Library of Congress), reproduction of copyrighted material is considered "fair" if it is included for the purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. This is exactly my intent. More information on copyrights can be found here.
  2. The relevant section of the subscribers issuing agreement (found here as of May 2, 1996) reads as follows:
    YOU AGREE TO USE THE DIGITAL ID AND ANY RELATED ISSUING AUTHORITY SERVICES ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES AUTHORIZED BY THE ISSUING AUTHORITY IN THE CPS. ANY OTHER USE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. ISSUING AUTHORITY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED AND EXPRESS WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND REFUSES ALL LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES. SEE THE CPS FOR IMPORTANT DETAILS.
    To quote from the Certification Practice Statement (CPS) of May 2, 1996:
    The Digital IDs issued during this beta period are for strictly for evaluation use. VeriSign's Certification Practices Statement does not apply to these Digital IDs.
As the original email pointed out, all of this raises some interesting issues surrounding copyright of Digital IDs. Who is going to hold a copyright on them? What is their value going to be? Who will bear liability for their misuse, and who will hold rights to use them? What methods of identification are sufficient for identifying individuals before issuing them a certificate? These are crucial issues for the future of electronic commerce, and you are encouraged to contemplate them.
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