Fair exchange of digital signatures in communications network

摘要

There is disclosed a method for facilitating fair exchange of digital signatures in an electronic communications system between a first party and a second party, including use of one or more confirmable signatures, such that either each party receives a valid digital signature of the other party, or neither party receives a valid digital signature, a method comprising a plurality of message transfers between the two parties, and wherein a trusted third party may act as a confirmer, which can independently verify the validity of a confirmable signature originating from either the first party or the second party.