JP2003527778A - Protection of the legitimacy of electronic documents and their printed copies - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An electronic document (200) capable of protecting the validity and a corresponding printed document, and a method, apparatus, computer program product and system for protecting the validity of an electronic document and a printed document are provided. Disclosed. The electronic document (200) includes the following: the content of the original document in electronic form, a reduction of the original document content in electronic form, an electronic seal or e-seal (224) for authenticating the original document in electronic form, The e-seal (224) includes the authority's visible seal and a reduction of the content embedded in the visible seal; authorized to be printed using a trusted printing process. Optically sensitive or detectable element (120C) added to the document. The optically-sensitive or detectable element (120C) includes information to indicate a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to secure electronic and printed documents, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for providing integrated legitimate protection of electronic and printed documents.

BACKGROUND ART Electronic and paper versions of documents are equally important in daily work and personal life, and are particularly popular items in view of the spread of the Internet and similar networks. Nevertheless, traditional approaches to protecting the legitimacy of one form of the document have neglected protection of the other. here,
Some of such conventional methods and systems will be described.

US Pat. No. 4,981,370 (issued to Dziewit et al. On Jan. 1, 1991), No. 5,031,214 (July 1991)
Issued to Dziewit, etc. on the 9th of the month), 5, 16
No. 3,091 (Graziano, November 10, 1992)
Etc.) and No. 5,191,613 (issued to Graziano et al. On March 2, 1993), which describes the process of signing a contract (or a single signatory document). , Addressing issues of electronic contract signing such as security, tangibility, authenticity, authentication, lifetime and validity. The devices described in these patents use computerized technology to create formally certified documents. The document is traditionally described as meeting the legal requirements for document authentication and authenticity associated with printed documents. The document authentication process is invoked as part of a program that verifies the identity of the document at the sender's station and the recipient's station by a fast comparison and locks it in the document so that no corrections or changes can occur. . The document authentication process then waits for an authentication handshake from those two endpoints. Once the identity of the signers of the document is confirmed,
The document authentication device prompts the parties to authenticate the document by attaching an electronic signature. The actual "signature" or authentication of the electronic document can also be carried out as a separate password step using the identity verification device. Therefore, two-step password protection can be used in such a manner that different "document authentication passwords" exist. The more sophisticated and sophisticated the system, the more confident the court can be that a document is valid. In this way, it is no longer necessary to create a paper version of the electronic contract. All of the elements of conventional paper-based contract documents reside in electronic form in computer systems.

This is a knowledge-based computer system that can automate much of the document generation and authentication process, thus increasing the functionality and capabilities. In particular, the creation of multi-party documents such as contracts entails a fairly large amount of dialogue between the contracting parties. The computer system is an electronic document exchange (EDI) in which standard format messages are exchanged between parties to order goods and create a delivery note.
) Is particularly effective in the field.

Thus, these four types of patents deal with the negotiation and signing process in electronic contracts. However, the technologies disclosed in these patent documents address approaches for integrated solutions to both electronic and printed documents, and how to make documents tangible and people-acceptable. Not not.

US Pat. No. 5,742,685 (Berson (Be
(issued to rson) etc., describes a method of verifying an identification card and recording the verification. Scan a person identified by an identity card, associate it with a text message that is compressed, encrypted, coded into a two-dimensional barcode and printed on the back of the identity card To generate the digital signal. To verify the identification, the coded message is scanned, decoded, decrypted, magnified and displayed. Authentication can be done by comparing the displayed image and text with the image and text printed on the identification card.

Similarly, Huttinger, Stephan (Stepha)
n) computer graphics (Computer Graphik) Volume 11 (January 1999), “Online Tickets” on pages 9-10, selected online tickets delivered to customers via the Internet. Techniques for doing so are described. A two-dimensional bar code representing the data and signature of each ticket is provided on the ticket. Digital signature technology is used to prove the authenticity of a ticket.

US Pat. No. 4,853,961 (Paster (Pas on August 1, 1989)
(published for tor)) describes a system for authenticating documents, including a device having a decryption key. When applied to the information provided by the user, the system not only displays a plain text message indicating the source of authentication, but also provides the decryption key used for the information provided by the mailer. Similarly, US Pat. No. 5,388,158 (February 7, 1995).
(Published to Berson by date) describes a secure document and a method and apparatus for producing and authenticating such a document. A document is scanned to produce a digital signal that is compressed, encrypted, and encoded in the form of a two-dimensional bar code or similar encoding format. The barcode is imprinted on the label attached to the document. The signal representing the image is encrypted using a public key encryption system and the key is downloaded from the center. To facilitate authentication, the corresponding decryption key is encrypted with another key and embedded in the card. To verify the document, the encoded signal is scanned from the label, decoded, decrypted,
Enlarged and displayed. The card can then be authenticated by comparing the image and the displayed representation of the document.

US Pat. No. 5,157,726 (Markle (M
(issued to e.g. erkle)) describes a system for authenticating a hard copy of an original document. At the sender's station, the original document and identification (ID) card are inserted into a special copier. The copier digitizes the document text to produce a digital signature incorporating the unique information from the sender's identification card. The copier produces a hard copy of the document, to which a digital signature is added. The sender leaves the original document as is, but forwards a copy to the recipient or recipient. When the recipient inserts the received copy into a machine at his location, the machine digitizes the document text and signature and processes it to indicate whether the digital signature is valid.

In US Pat. No. 5,710,886 (issued to Christensen, etc. on January 20, 1998), discount coupons, rebate tickets, or gift certificates are distributed, generated, and sold as products. The method of redeeming is described. This method tracks each coupon using a consumer ID number printed on the coupon. Coupons can be distributed electronically, for example in the form of diskettes or CD-ROM software. The software on the diskette or CD-ROM can prompt the consumer to call a number, 1-800, as the verification number or code. During a call, telemarketing personnel may request consumer demographic and / or identifying information, which may be placed in a centralized database. Once the software has been verified, the consumer can print the coupon of their choice. Each coupon can only be printed a limited number of times. Also, each coupon can be stamped with a consumer ID number, preferably in the form of a bar code. This patent states that "the use of a consumer ID number on a coupon can reduce or prevent unauthorized copying of coupons and redemption of merchandise."

US Pat. No. 5,374,976 (issued to Spannenburg on Dec. 20, 1994), US Pat. No. 5,823,576 (19).
Issued to Lambert on October 20, 1998) and Fifth
, 018,767 (issued to Wicker on May 28, 1991), describe several methods of protecting paper documents from photocopying. These methods print a document in which a pattern is embedded using a high resolution printing machine (for example, 600 dpi). These embedded patterns are not visible in the original document. Lower resolution (eg 300 dpi)
These patterns become visible when copied by a conventional photocopier.

The above techniques have many disadvantages. First, the technology for electronic document authentication is not user friendly. In other words, these techniques do not render electronic documents tangible or easily understandable by the user.
The encryption key or two-dimensional bar code is not directly readable by the user and the user does not know whether the document or item was approved and by whom the document was approved. Secondly, it is unclear whether there is a technology that can provide an integrated solution to both electronic documents and printed documents. This is crucial for essential applications, both in business and daily life. If there is an integrated problem solving means, it is possible to enjoy the benefits of high-speed delivery via the Internet and intranet while maintaining the convenience and tangibility of paper documents. Third,
The protection provided by these technologies is not personalized. This is also important in legal and business documents where each person may be interested in protecting or being responsible for the portion of the content in which they are involved.

US Pat. No. 5,742,685 (Berson (Be
rson), No. 4,853,961 (issued to Pastor on August 1, 1989), and No. 5,388,158 (1).
(Published to Berson, Feb. 7, 995) discloses a method or system for protecting electronic or paper documents using cryptographic techniques. However, these systems have a number of disadvantages, including the following: 1) These methods or systems provide solution only to either electronic or paper documents. 2) These methods or systems are based on cryptographic techniques and are secure for electronic documents, but are not tangible for many applications and are not user friendly. Paper documents are still desirable for many uses and are preferred by many. 3) The protection is not personalized, even in the case of documents with multiple signers. 4) There is no comprehensive problem solution / product / service regarding authentication and delivery.

Accordingly, one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages is eliminated or at least improved,
Clearly, there is a need for ways to protect the legitimacy of both electronic and paper-printed versions of documents.

It is an object of some aspects of the present invention to provide an integrated method for protecting the legitimacy of electronic documents and their corresponding paper printing plates. This is done with a user friendly e-seal. The protection is personalized with a personalized e-seal. Documents with multiple signers can be effectively and efficiently protected and verified.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the first aspect of the present invention, an electronic document capable of copying a corresponding printed document which is a paper printing plate of the electronic document and which can protect the legitimacy of the electronic document Is disclosed,
The electronic document includes a content of an original document in electronic format, a contraction of the content of the original document in electronic format, a visible seal of authority for authenticating the original document in electronic format, and its visible label. An electronic or e-seal containing a contraction of the content embedded in a seal and a copy or modification of the printed document that is optically perceptible or detectable to be printed using a reliable printing process. An element added to the authenticated document that includes information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a plate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed a printed document copied from the electronic document, which is a paper printing plate of the electronic document and can protect the legitimacy of the printed document. , A rendered content of the original document and a reduction of the visible seal of authority and the content of the original document embedded in the visible seal for authenticating the original document rendered in the printed document. Is rendered to the certified document using a trusted printing process, including an electronic seal or an e-seal containing the information and information to indicate a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document. And an element capable of being optically sensed or sensed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed a method of protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document which is a paper printing version of the electronic document, the method comprising an original document in electronic form. Generating a contraction of the content of the electronic document and using an electronic seal or an e-seal containing the visible seal of authority and the contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal. Optically sensitive or detectable including an authenticating step and information in the copy or modified version of the printed document to be printed using a reliable printing process. Adding different elements to the authenticated document.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is disclosed an apparatus for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document which is a paper printing version of the electronic document, the apparatus being in electronic form. Means for generating a contraction of the content of the original document and an electronic seal or e-seal using a visible seal of authority and a contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal. Means for authenticating the content of the original document of the document, and information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document to be printed using a reliable printing process. Means for adding an optically perceptible or detectable element to the authenticated document.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a computer-usable computer having a computer-readable program code means for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document that is a paper printing version of the electronic document can be used. A computer program product having a medium is disclosed, the computer program product comprising computer readable program code means for generating a contraction of content of an original document in electronic form, a visible seal of authority and the visible seal thereof. Computer readable program code means for authenticating the original document in electronic form using an electronic seal or e-seal containing a contraction of the content embedded therein and to be printed using a reliable printing process. To a copy of the printed document or a copy of the printed document in a modified version. Or computer readable program code means for adding an optically sensitive or detectable element containing information for indicating a modification to the authenticated document.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed a system using a network for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document which is a paper printing version of the electronic document. , Means for generating a contraction of the content of the original document in electronic form, and an electronic or e-seal containing a visible seal of authority and a contraction of said content embedded in the visible seal Means for authenticating the original document in electronic form and information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document to be printed using a reliable printing process. Means for adding an optically sensitive or detectable element to the authenticated document, including.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed a system for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a print document corresponding to the electronic document, the system including the content of an original document in an electronic format and the content of the original document. Produces a certified electronic document that includes an electronic seal or e-seal that includes a privileged visible seal for authenticating the content of an electronic source document and a reduction of the content embedded in the visible seal. Means for
Optically added to the certified electronic document containing information to indicate a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document so that it is printed using a reliable printing process. Using means for producing a sensible or detectable element, means for verifying the authenticity of the authenticated electronic document, and a reliable printing process depending on the means for verifying, Means for obtaining an authenticated printed document by printing the authenticated electronic document and the optically sensitive element.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a method for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and its corresponding printed document is disclosed, the method comprising: the content of an original document in electronic form;
And an authenticated electronic document including an electronic seal or an e-seal containing a visible seal of authority for authenticating the content of the original document in the electronic format and a contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal. Adding to the certified electronic document including information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document so as to be printed using a trusted printing process. A certified optically sensitive or detectable element, verifying the authenticity of the certified electronic document, and authenticating using a trusted printing process in response to the verifying step. A certified electronic document and a certified printed document by printing the optically sensitive element. Characterized in that it comprises Te.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product having a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means implemented therein for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document. Disclosed, the computer program product provides a content of an electronic source document and a visible seal of authority for authenticating the electronic source document and a contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal. A computer readable program code means for producing a certified electronic document containing an electronic seal or an e-seal, and the copy or modified version of the printed document for printing using a trusted printing process. The certified electronic text containing information to indicate a copy or modification of a printed document Computer readable program code means for generating an optically sensitive or detectable element attached to a document, computer readable program code means for verifying the authenticity of the authenticated electronic document, and the verification Computer readable for obtaining a certified print document by printing the certified electronic document and the optically sensitive element using a reliable printing process in response to computer readable program code means And a program code means.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a method of reliable document delivery over a network is disclosed, the method establishing a secure communication link between parties at one or more locations. , Verifying that each party is who they say they are, providing a means for the parties to sign the original document, the content of the original document in which the protected signed document is in electronic form, and the electronic form. Of the content of the original document, and an electronic seal or e-including a visible seal of authority and a contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal for authenticating the original document in the electronic format. Protecting the authenticity of the electronically signed document in the form of a seal, including a sender party at a first location of the network to a recipient party at a second remote location. Sending a protected signed electronic document to a party, notifying the receiving party of the transmitted protected electronic document, and transmitting the transmitted protected electronic document to a second remote of the network. And a step of transmitting a reception notice of the transmitted protected electronic document to the transmitting party at the first location.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Electronic document and print document capable of protecting legitimacy, and method, apparatus, computer program product and method for protecting legitimacy of electronic document and print document Describe the system. In the following description, many detailed items will be described including, for example, specific encryption technology, watermarking technology, content reduction method, and the like. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, detailed descriptions of well-known features have been omitted so as not to obscure the present invention.

For convenience of explanation, each embodiment of the present invention is described or referred to as a “system”. System components are described as modules. The modules, in particular the functions of the modules, can be implemented in the form of hardware or software. In the software sense, a module is usually a process, program or part thereof that performs a particular function or related functions. In a hardware sense, a module is a hardware functional unit designed for use with other components or modules. For example, a module can be implemented using discrete electronic components or can be part of an entire electronic circuit such as an application specific IC (ASIC). There are many other possibilities. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system can also be implemented as a combination of hardware and software modules.

[0028]   The following sections are included in the description for convenience and ease of reference.   1. System overview   2. E-seal and E-seal element   3. Protection and verification process   4. Product / Service

1. System Overview In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, includes four types of products / services, and certification / notarization services that achieve reliable and rapid delivery of electronic and paper documents via the internet and / or intranet. An integrated document validity protection system is obtained. These embodiments provide methods and products for ensuring legitimacy of electronic and printed documents using electronic seals or "e-seals." An e-seal is a visual representation of a person's authentication of the document and includes three main elements: 1) a visible seal that gives the person's visual identification, which is his logo. It could be an image containing a seal, a signature, or a combination of these (with an e-seal, people can quickly see who has approved the document).
2) A watermark that is embedded in a sticker image to protect the integrity of the document, and the watermark information includes a contraction of the document content protected by a cryptographic operation. If any correction or change is made to the document content, there will be a mismatch between the content and the e-seal. To ensure integrated protection for both electronic and paper documents, a new reduction derivation algorithm that produces similar reductions for electronic and paper versions of documents is used. 3) In order to verify the pre-print legitimacy of the document, optically sensitive elements are added to the printed document by a special printing method and are managed by a trusted party. This optically sensitive element is
Protects the original printed document against possible forgery such as and-paste methods and photocopying and rescanning duplication. With optically sensitive elements, verification can be done visually using simple or commonly available equipment. Together, these three elements form an integrated problem solution for protecting both the electronic document and the hard copy of the electronic document against possible abuse.

Embodiments of the present invention include four types of products / services including trusted document delivery, electronic proof / notary, electronic check or transferable securities, and multi-party official document signatures. The method, product, apparatus and system of computer program product may be applied to various types of documents.

Embodiments of the present invention provide three levels / types of protection. The visible seal provides a low level of protection to alert people that the document is approved and protected. Watermarks provide security protection against unauthorized modification or alteration of document content that can be predicted. The optically sensitive element provides effective protection of the printed document by simple offline visual verification.

Advantageously, these embodiments are very user friendly.
People can handle electronic documents in the same way as regular paper documents. More advantageously, these embodiments provide an integrated solution to both electronic documents and their corresponding paper plates. This is important because both electronic and paper versions of the document have their advantages and both document formats are needed for many applications. Therefore, this integrated problem solving means is an important feature for basic applications.

Furthermore, the electronic document and the printed document are bridged by a controlled and reliable printing method such as checking the legitimacy of the document before printing and adding an optically detectable element to the screen. These documents are effectively protected against unauthorized use such as dumps and cut and paste.

2. E-SEALS AND ELEMENTS OF E-SEALS Also, electronic or e-seal in embodiments of the present invention includes a visible image that identifies a person's authentication of a document. This e-seal reflects effective and efficient protection of document integrity. 1A-1C illustrate an example of an e-seal in an embodiment of the present invention. Each e-seal preferably has three elements: a visible image or a seal image, a watermark containing a reduction of the content of the document, and an optically sensitive or detectable element.

FIG. 1A shows an e-seal 110, which can be affixed or incorporated into an electronic document (not shown). For ease of illustration, e
-The seal 110 is shown surrounded by a black rectangle. The e-seal 110 includes a person's signature 110A (Jian) that serves as a visual identification of the signer of the document.
image of Kang Wu) is included. The visible seal 110A is retained in digital image format. Other visible images 110A than a human signature can be implemented without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, the visible image 110A may be a document header, a logo, a human face image, a graphic symbol, or the like. In this regard, there are numerous possibilities that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the disclosure herein. Furthermore, in order to protect the ownership of the visible seal 110A, the visible image 110A is preferably watermarked with information about the owner of the visible seal 110A. The e-seal 110 also includes a watermark 110B that looks like a noise-like strip below the image of the signature 110A. The watermark 110B is used to protect the document integrity (ie,
Information that constitutes the content of the document, including text, images, etc.) is transmitted. The contraction of contents will be described in more detail later.

FIG. 1B shows the corresponding e-seal 1 rendered in a printed document (not shown).
20 and this e-seal is also shown within the black rectangle. The e-seal 120 includes a visible seal 120A and a watermark 120B containing a contraction of the content of the document. A gray rectangular optically sensitive or detectable element 120C is added beneath the watermark strip of the printed document when rendered. This addition is done using a reliable rendering process before rendering the image.

If necessary, the element area 120 C has a serial number (
That is, 99072002) is added. Optically sensitive or detectable element 120 contains information to indicate a copy or modification of the printed document in the copy or modified version of the printed document. FIG. 1C illustrates an e-seal 130 during a photocopy of an original printed document that includes the e-seal 120 of FIG. 1B. In FIG. 1C, the photocopied e-seal 120 has the appearance that the invisible portion of the optically sensitive element 120C is visible in the photocopied e-seal 130 (ie, the signature of Jiankang Wu). Is changing.

2.1 Visible E-Seal In the embodiments of the present invention, the visible seal can be considered as a user-friendly interface and visual identification of authority. Computer Graphics by Huttinger and Stephan, Volume 11 (1999)
(January 1st), "Online Ticket" published on pages 9 to 10 discloses a two-dimensional bar code for authorizing a document as an easily detectable code of encrypted information. Bar codes are printed binary codes that can be detected by a bar code reader with a very low error rate, but are not human readable. That is, even if there is a barcode on the document, it is not known by whom the document was approved, and the user determines whether the barcode is valid without the inspection device. I can't.

The authority is an organization or an individual, but often has a unique “seal”, which is a logo, signature, or the like. The image above is an e-seal visible sealing element. To protect the ownership of the e-seal, this seal image is preferably embedded with an invisible watermark. The invisible watermark information includes, but is not limited to, the name and creation date of the owner of the sticker. Other information can be included in the sticker image. Unless the watermarking process is a reversible process, no one else can impersonate the owner. For image watermarking for copyright protection, see Cox, Ingemar Jay
Ingemar J) and Miller, Miller, Matt L
)) In the 1997 Electronic Imaging Conference (February 1997), "A Study on the Importance of Watermarking and Perceptual Modeling".

The sticker image can be locked by the owner, for example using encryption, and stored in a secure location. The owner can unlock the sticker image and use the sticker image to sign the document. To access and unlock the seal image,
It can be done using passwords, smart cards or biometrics.

2.2 Watermark of contraction of content Since the uniqueness of the sticker and signature on the paper can be easily confirmed by visual inspection, the sticker and signature on the paper document are used as evidence that the document is legitimate. Can be used. In the case of electronic documents, protection against unauthorized or tampering with the content of the document is achieved primarily by a watermark embedded in the e-seal image. The watermark information includes “reduction” of the document content. There are roughly two types of applications that require document legitimacy: the first type is where the document is illuminated by a trusted authority. Examples include government-issued gazettes and tickets, which are verified by authorities or government agencies. In terms of information security, authorities / key issuers and verifiers share security keys.

The second type is for applications where documents are transferred between multiple parties. Examples include electronic legal documents and official documents in governments and large corporations. The document may be originated by more than one person, in which case there is a need for a trusted third party to issue the key.

The term “key” includes the meaning of a piece or set of information by which a message or device can be moved from one state to another state by a particular function. For example, a security key can be used to encrypt the message. Alternatively, a set of eigenface images, which are images of faces mapped to low-dimensional feature vectors, can be used. Further, watermark information can be embedded in the image using the secret address. In the above three examples, the security key, unique surface image and embedded address are all "
It can be referred to as a “key”, and is described here for the purpose of illustration only. There are many other possible keys and those skilled in the art will appreciate them.

2.2.1 Document Content Embodiments of the present invention aim to protect the document content from potential tampering and / or unauthorized use. Therefore, defining document content in the protection process is very important, especially for documents signed by multiple parties.

Basically, the content of a document includes a signature (including a layout and a format (
That is, it means all the information contained in the document at the time of adding the e-seal to the document. For documents with multiple signers, content is defined as content associated with each particular signer. The first example is where the contract is signed by two parties. In the first round, the parties each sign a bare document, one of two copies of the contract. The contract content is the content of the document. In the second round, each party signs each other's documents that have already been signed by the other party. In this case, the content of the document contains the signature of the other party. FIG. 2 shows a second example that illustrates the concept of content definition for a particular signer of a document using the three signer example. A document 200 containing the initial content 222 is originated by a first person, signed, and sent to a second person. The second person signs the document and sends it to the third person. For the first person, the content 222 of the document 200 is all the information contained in the original document, as indicated by block 222. When a second person signs the document 200, for that person, the document content 220 is the content 22 of the original document 200.
2, should include the first person's signature 224 and the second person's additions 226 (such as comments) to the document. For the third person, the content 230 of the document 200
Will include the original document 222, the first person's signature (224) and the second person's signature, the second person's addition 226 and the third person's addition 236 to the document.
It has to be noted here that the person's signature is implemented in the form of an e-seal. This can be expressed mathematically as:

[Equation 1] However, C _n is the content of the document at the time of the signature by the n-th person, S _i-1 is the signature of the previous signer, the serial number of the first signer is 0, and δ _i is the i-th signer. It is an addition to the document.

In an embodiment of the invention, when a document is signed by a person, a contraction of the document content is embedded in the person's e-seal.

When the next person signs the document, redundancy occurs if the contraction of the document content also includes the original document. This redundancy occurs because the contraction of the original document content is present on all e-seals of all signers.

For consistency reasons, when a person signs a document, he verifies the document against all existing signatures from start to finish. Another alternative is to simply embed the last e-seal and any additional reductions to the person's document when the person signs the document. That is, the content of the first signer is C ₀ , and the content of the subsequent signer i is S _i-1 + δ _i . This method is safer and simpler for the following reasons. 1) The last e-seal so far carries a contraction of the content of the document at the time of signing, so all e-seals form a protection chain. Authentication fails if the protection chain breaks anywhere. 2) The content reduction for the i-th signer is given by:

[Equation 2] However, this e-seal consists of two parts. One part is the e-seal image and the other part is a contraction of the content for that e-seal, encoded in the form of a watermark. This formula can be rewritten repeatedly until the first signer is reached, and then the content associated with that i th person that contains the “signature” of all the content of the document at the time of the i th signer's signature. You can see the contraction of. 3) Since the reductions associated with each e-seal are different, there is no confusion about the document's signature order. On the other hand, people tend to place e-seals closer to their additions to their documents. This is another clue about the signature order.

2.2.2 “Reduction” of Documents Embodiments of the present invention apply to both electronic and paper printing versions of documents. "Reduction" of document content can be easily derived and created from both electronic and paper versions of the document, and the created reductions are the same or very similar to each other. A "contracted" of the content of a document can be defined as a contracted representation of the document that has a size small enough to embed the contract in an e-seal image.
There are two important properties that are desirable for the reduction function. First of all, the contraction must be sensitive to changes in content, including very small changes. Second, it is desirable that the contraction be sensitive to spatial location so that the location of the modification can also be sensed.

Many methods are available for deriving contractions from documents, whether in electronic or paper format. Mathematically, the contraction is “Digest = M (Con
tent) ”or“ Digest = M (Key, Content) ”, where M represents a mapping function and“ Key ”is a secret value shared between the issuer and the verifier. An example of such a contraction technique will be described below, but it should be understood by those skilled in the art that other methods can be implemented in view of the disclosure content of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Examples of reduction techniques include:

1) In the encryption method, the message reduction is performed by the Sycure hash algorithm (S
HA). For a contraction of length 128 bits, we have to try about 2 ¹²⁸ messages to find two messages with the same contraction. "Network Security, Personal Communications in the Public World (Network) by C. Kaufman, R. Perlman and M. Specner."
k Security, Private Communication in
"Public World" (PTR Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1995) provides a detailed description of such sicure hash algorithms. Therefore, finding two messages with the same contraction is not practical. Clearly, the content of the document I _s is in digital form, the electronic multimedia document there is a clear definition of the "same", "different" is suitable about encryption contraction is. Cryptographic contraction is also applicable to documents that have textual content that an optical character recognition device (OCR) can effectively use to convert paper documents into electronic format. To generate a "location-dependent" reduction, the text can be divided into blocks and a small size reduction generated for each block. The final reduction combines all those small size reductions.

The Sicure Hash Algorithm (SHA) is a pseudo-random mapping function. Only one bit error in the content can make a big difference between the reductions. Therefore, the content of the document must be error free throughout transmission, storage and format conversion.

2) A simple contraction of the document (eg degree certificate) can be obtained by selecting a few key document items including the recipient, school name, degree name and date.
Also, an easy way to verify both digital and paper certificates is to manually enter these items.

3) The content of the photo has a different format when compared to the text.
The textual representation is accurate. A 1-bit change in the content of the text makes a difference in the text, and probably also in the meaning. On the other hand, the interpretation of photographs is not accurate. For example, the content of a facial image may not change when the image data is reduced from 8 bits / pixel to 4 bits / pixel. As such, "feature criteria" can be used to represent the content of a photo. Feature criteria are extracted from the picture to capture the most salient features of the image. A typical example of a feature reference in a face image is an eigenphase image (eyegenface). In this regard, the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience by A. Pentland.
) Volume 3 (1991), pp. 59-70, "Eigenface for recognition images for recognition". Other examples are Fourier descriptors, projection methods and vector quantization (VQ).
There are methods such as expression. For such a method, see R. Gonzalez (
R. C. Gonzalez) and RE Woods
Written "Digital Image Processing (Digital Image Processing)
) ”, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Reading (1
993). Since the feature criteria captures the outstanding features of a photo,
The print-and-scan process does not make many changes to the feature criteria. Therefore, it is possible to detect a change between the electronic document and the corresponding paper printing plate using the predetermined threshold value. The feature criteria can be used as a contraction of photographs in both electronic and paper-printed formats, as well as other non-photographic data in raster formats.

The eigensurface image and VQ (vector quantization) can be regarded as a keyed mapping function, in which case the eigensurface image and VQ dictionary are mapping keys. The peculiar surface image and VQ dictionary are different for each application, and there are many options.

4) The feature-based concept can be extended to derive contractions for non-raster data formats (eg symbolic representations in graphics and categories or dictionary-based representations in text and tables). For example, assume that a doctor has performed a medical examination on a person. Since there are typical cases / categories and standard descriptions, those categories can be coded and the usage code number can be used to create a contraction of the medical examination document.

2.2.3 Reduction Derivation Method Based on Block Coding Technique In the embodiments of the present invention, an effective reduction derivation method used based on the image block coding technique is proposed. Computer Graphics and Image Processing by JK Wu and R. E. Barge, 19th
Vol. 1982, pp. 392-400, "Adaptive Bit Allocation for Image."
eCompression)) "provides a detailed description of this method. The advantage of using it is that the method works for both electronic and paper documents, and that it can detect both the amount of change and the place of change.

Here, it is assumed that a document has a raster format. That is, an electronic document is converted into a raster data format, a paper document is captured as a raster data format from a scanner, and a plurality of pages of the document are linked as one raster image. The method includes the following steps: Step 1: First, an appropriate block size is selected. In principle, the blocks can be of any shape and size. However, the blocks are usually chosen to have a square shape. The size of the square is 4 × 4,8 depending on the image size of the document, the reduced size of the embedded e-seal and the required protection accuracy.
It can be x8, 16x16, or 32x32 pixels. Step 2: Each block is classified into one of a number of predetermined classes. The classification can be done in either the spatial domain or the transform domain using the original block data or criteria extracted from the block. For example, if the vector quantization method is adopted, the block must match a predetermined codebook. This can also be considered as a classification. In the case of the transform domain method, the block is first transformed into the cosine transform domain. Texture for each block
Energy, directionality, fineness and dispersion criteria can be derived. Using these four criteria, the block can be, for example, 16 classes (16 is just an example,
It is possible to implement more or less than 16 classes)
Classified into one. For example, if the block data in the cosine transform domain is F (
Expressed as u, υ) or F (r, θ), the above four criteria are defined as follows: Step 3: The reduction of the document is determined or formed to be an array of class labels. .

[Equation 3]

[Equation 4]

[Equation 5]

[Equation 6] Step 4: To verify the document, the document image is processed in the same way using the same class parameters (or codebook) from which the reduction was derived in Step 2. The derived reduction is matched with the embedded reduction. A change in the class label of a block indicates that the block has been modified or changed.

Class definition (or codebook determination) is an important aspect of this method and can be defined for each individual document or for each document group. If the blocks are classified in the spatial domain, the class definition is similar to defining a codebook with vector quantization. As an example, consider a class definition in the cosine transform domain as follows: Step 1: Select an appropriate block size. Collect document images that can represent the group of documents to which the class definition applies. Step 2: For every document image, transform each block into the cosine transform domain and extract the criteria that characterize those blocks. Step 3: Determine the number of classes n_cls according to the allowable range of modification / change of the application: the larger the number of classes, the smaller the allowable range of modification / change.
Step 4: Combine all blocks into n_cls clusters using a clustering algorithm (eg K-means). Step 5: The class definition for a given document image data set consists of cluster centers and cluster labels.

2.2.4 Reduction Authenticity Protection and Key Management As mentioned above, the reduction of the document content is embedded in the e-seal in the form of a watermark. This watermark is used to verify the authenticity of the document content. For this reason, the authenticity of the reduction is protected by the encryption means before the reduction is embedded in the watermark. The concept and terminology of cryptography is based on Afred Jay Menezes (Afr
ed J.D. Menezes), Paul Sea Van Auschott (Paul)
C. van Oorschott and Scott A. Van Stone (Sc
ott A. Vanstone) "Handbook of Applied Cryptographic Techniques (Handbo)
ok of Applied Cryptography) ", CRL Press (1996).

Three techniques A), B) and C) will now be described: A) Reduction authenticity protection using symmetric key cryptography can be used. s
Is a secret key shared between the issuer and the verifier. In addition, E (s, Dige
st) represents the reduction encryption under the key s, and D (s, Ciphe
rtext) is the decryption of the ciphertext under the key s.

The operations performed by the publisher side include: i) Derivation of contractions from document content by computer processing: Dige
st = M (Content), ii) Encrypt contraction under private key: Ciphertext = E (s, D
igest), iii) Embed the ciphertext in the watermark.

The operations performed by the verifier include: i) Extracting the ciphertext from the watermark and ciphering the extracted ciphertext with Ciphertext '.
, Ii) Decrypt the extracted ciphertext under the shared secret key: Dige
st '= D (s, Ciphertext'), iii) Derivation of the contracted Digest "from the document content Content" by computer processing: Digest "= M (Content"), iv) Digest 'is compared with Digest ", and Digest is compared. 'And Dige
If the "distance" to st "is within a preset threshold, accept the document as authentic; otherwise, reject the document.

B) Authenticity protection of reduction of document content is message authentication check (MAC)
Can be done using. Let s be the private key shared between the issuer and the verifier. The contracted MAC of a document is defined as MAC = H (s, Digest).
However, H () is a one-way hash function.

The operations performed by the issuer side include: i) Derivation of document content reduction by computer processing: Diges
t = M (Content), ii) Derivation of the contracted MAC by computer processing: MAC = H (s,
Digest), iii) Embed the MAC in the watermark.

The operations performed by the verifier side include: i) extracting the MAC from the watermark and displaying it as MAC ′, ii) deriving the contraction from the document content by computer processing: Dig
est "= M (Content"), iii) Compute MAC "= H (s, Digest") on the computer, iv) Compare MAC 'with MAC ", and if they are equal, then the document is considered authentic Accept; otherwise reject the document.

C) Authenticity protection of reductions can be done using digital signatures, where s
And p are key pairs of the private key and public key of the issuer in a predetermined digital signature method. The digital signature of the publisher on contraction of the document is SIG = S (s, Di
Gest). There are two types of digital signature systems, namely, a digital signature system based on a table and a digital signature system based on message reproduction. The latter type digital signature scheme will be described below, but the universality is not lost. Examples of such schemes include RSA, R
There are abin and Nyberg-Rueppel methods. Generalization to the former type of digital signature scheme would be straightforward to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, it is assumed that the verifier obtains the issuer's public key in a reliable and secure manner.

Operations performed by the issuer include: i) Derivation of contractions from document content by computer processing: Dige
st = M (Content), ii) Derivation of the contracted digital signature by computer processing: SIG =
S (s, Digest), iii) SIG is embedded in the watermark.

The operations performed by the verifier side include: i) extracting the digital signature from the watermark and displaying it as SIG ′, ii) using the issuer's public key, reducing it from SIG ′ Play About: Dige
st '= R (p, SIG'), where R () is the message reproduction function of the digital signature method, iii) Derivation of contraction from document content by computer processing: Di
gest "= M (Content"), iv) Digest 'is compared with Digest ", and Digest' and Dige are compared.
If the "distance" to st "is within a preset threshold, accept the document as authentic; otherwise, reject the document.

Here, the technologies A) and B) are suitable for a situation where the issuer and the verifier have a mutually reliable relationship, and the technology C) is used when the issuer and the verifier do not have a mutually reliable relationship. It should be noted that this can be done.

A key used for embedding a watermark (for example, an address or parameter) and a key used for derivation of contraction (such as a unique surface image) are generated by an authorized person and stored in a document file.

2.2.5 Watermark Embedding Since people need to provide evidence to prove the authenticity of a document, unlike environments such as those involving copyright protection, such people usually use e-seal. It does not try to remove the watermark. Therefore, non-perceptuality and robustness are not major issues. Therefore, the spatial domain embedding method may be preferable to the spectral domain technique. The spatial domain method is simple and has a large capacity.

There are many watermarking techniques that can be used for embedding document content contractions in the embodiments of the present invention. M. D. Swanson, M. Kobayashi and A. H. Taufik (A)
． H. Watermarking technology in "Multimedia Data Embedding and Watermarking Technologies" in IEEE Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 6 (June 1998), pages 1064-1087 by Tewfik). Has been published.

The characteristics required for the watermark embedding method for document authentication are as follows: 1) A large capacity for storing a document contract whose size varies depending on the application. 2) Robust enough to withstand the printing-repetitive scanning process, which is a necessary step for paper plate verification.

Embodiments of the present invention may utilize, but are not limited to, the simple technique shown in FIG. The contraction 300B is embedded in the area of the e-seal image 300A. A part of the boundary of the watermark area 300B is the boundary of the original image content 300. The boundaries of this area 300B are recorded in the document file to facilitate watermark extraction in the verification process. This boundary is "content dependent"
That is, the watermark 300B and the seal image 300A are tightly combined. Primarily, the watermark area 300B will, unless it affects the recognition of the main image content 300A,
It may have any shape and any place depending on the needs of each application.

In this method, the reduction 300B is encoded in the form of a binary modulation of the S component of the HSV color space of FIG. Also, other possible modulations for other components or in other color spaces are valid. To reduce the error rate, an error correction code can be used, or the reduction can be coded with more pixels. When extracting the watermark 300B from the rescanned document, if the resolution of the scanner is high enough, there is no problem reproducing the information.

2.3 Optically Detectable Elements The visible e-seal provides a direct warning to people regarding document integrity protection.
Optically detectable elements, along with a visible seal, provide safe and secure protection for printed documents and easy verification by standard optical equipment such as widely available equipment including special lenses or photocopiers. provide.

Any of many optically detectable elements can be used in embodiments of the invention. Preferably, to embed an optically detectable element in a document, one of two methods may be used: 1) Embed some secure element directly in the content of the document. Optical elements specially designed to embed secure elements in those holes by detecting some "holes" in the frequency domain, and later to fit those elements into this particular class of documents. Can be detected by the lens for use. 2) The visual elements of the document can be modulated by increasing the resolution or changing the color of the document so that the document is sensitive to special illumination scans along a preset direction. In this case, the detector may be a commercially available photocopier or scanner.

2.4 Document Structure FIG. 4 shows the layout of a one-page document 400, which includes a content area 420 and two e-seal portions, a logo 410 and a signature 430 (preferably a serial number). Has been. The content area 420 may be further subdivided into a number of areas that may each include different media such as text, graphics, tables and / or photographs.

2.4.1 Landmarks for easy localization Add frames 410, 420, 430 as landmarks so that the location of the content 420 and the e-seal areas 410, 430 can be easily localized. be able to. Instead of these frames, other forms of landmarks may be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

2.4.2 Multiple parts of the e-seal The e-seal may have multiple parts. A typical example is the official document header 41.
An official document 430 that includes two parts, a zero and a signature and / or tissue seal 430. The document header 410 can include an organization name and logo. Document classifications and serial numbers are also typically printed near the header. However, this is preferably part of the content 420. The visible information is embedded in the logo image 410 as a watermark for protection. Generally, a paper document is
To be a valid document it must include both a header and one or more signatures. Although not necessary in this case, it is desirable to watermark all images in the e-seal to protect ownership.

2.4.3 Multiple Pages In the case of multiple page documents, an e-seal can be included on each page. Preferably, the document has a page number (numbered in the form of current page number-total number of pages) and the page number is considered part of the document content.

2.4.4 File of Approved Document For each approved document, a file in which necessary information is written is prepared and saved for future reference. The information written to the file includes keys for reduction authenticity protection and / or embedding, e-seal size, optically detectable element parameters, signer name, etc. Files are stored by authorized persons or trusted third parties. The verification process can access the file.

[0084] 3. Protection and verification process

3.1 Electronic Document Signing Process FIG. 5 illustrates an electronic document protection process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. When a person initiates the document signing process, he or she must open the person's e-seal 534 using either a password or biometrics (fingerprint, face, etc.). If the signer is a single predetermined electronic document, the verification module 510 for verifying the previous e-seal does not apply to that electronic document or e-document 510 and the contraction of the document content is done using the key. Alternatively, it is generated by the contraction generation module 520 without a key. If necessary, a key is obtained to encrypt the contract. The address and parameters are selected as the key 532 provided to the watermark embedding module 530, the reduction (and time when the watermark is embedded) is embedded as a watermark in the e-seal image 534, and the E-document file 542 is authenticated. Be seen. It is possible to add landmarks to facilitate e-seal and content localization. The final module 540 of the process includes or adds information, including an e-seal, to the electronic document 512, adds landmarks for verification and printing, and thereby validates the E-Document 542 and E-Document File. 544 is obtained.

When there are a plurality of signers, the verification is performed using the module 510 at the time of the nth signer, and all the e-seals up to that point are verified. The person's supplemental information is added to the document, the contraction is derived in relation to the person, and the contraction is encrypted and embedded. Information about the signature (adding his e-seal) is added to the file of the electronic document.

For many applications, the content of a document will include the main content, classification number, serial number, page number, and all other information contained in the document.

For high security applications, personal authentication of the signer is required. This can be done using biometrics such as passwords, fingerprints or faces or smart cards. After successful personal authentication, the system does the following: open the e-seal image, sign the document, and charge the person's account.

3.2 Electronic Document Verification Process FIG. 6 illustrates a verification process for an authenticated electronic document 542 containing an e-seal and its corresponding electronic file 544 as input. First, the module 610 localizes and authenticates the e-seal. With the information from the file, the watermark for each e-seal is extracted and decrypted to obtain the original reduction. The content reduction for each e-seal is extracted from the electronic document and the module 62
0 compared to the contraction extracted from the e-seal. If there is no difference between these reductions, or if the difference is less than or equal to a preset threshold, then the verification is successful. If so, the e-seal image is verified by extracting the copyright protection watermark in the module 630 and obtaining the verification result 644 to determine the true owner (e-
It may be necessary to check the seal). If the verification result 644 is “Yes” or “true”, it indicates that the authenticated electronic document is authentic. If the verification result 644 is “No” or “False”, it indicates that the document is not genuine or has been tampered with, and the tampered portion is probably the location (x
, Y).

3.3 Electronic Document Printing Printing of the electronic document 542 to obtain the authenticated print copy 734 is performed under the control of the printing method shown in FIG. The validity of the electronic document is verified by the verification module 710. If the verification result is acceptable, the optically detectable element is added by the addition module 720 (preferably with the copy number). The document is then printed by module 730. The serial number of the printed copy can be added to the document file in addition to the printed copy. The optically sensitive element is added to the e-seal of the last signer to date, which provides overall protection of the document containing the previously signed e-seal.

A valid print document can be generated only by the printing method shown in FIG. This ensures that people cannot use any printing features to print the electronic document after tweaking it. By controlling the use of printing functions, the legitimacy of the printed document can be greatly secured by means of optically detectable elements.

There are several ways to control the print function. In this embodiment of FIG. 7, since the verification must be done before printing, the printing function is controlled by the party having the verification right, and the verification is sufficiently facilitated. Two methods of controlling the print function are described below. 1) Online control: A user logs in via a secure network and requests printing of a specific electronic document. After passing user verification by an authorized person or a trusted third party, the authorized person or a trusted third party verifies the document,
Send the print function to the user's site with the required data. The print function prints the document on the user's printer. The document being printed, the part of the data already printed,
It can be discarded while the printing process is in progress. This can be done by gradually erasing the memory in which the data portion was stored. 2) Verification and printing vendors: Authorized vendors can own special printing equipment. The printing device can be online with the authorized person or used offline. When offline, the data and functions are preloaded on the device. If the user is approved, the device prints the document. If the device is operated in online mode, the process is similar to the first method above. Depending on the security level of the device, partial data and functions may be stored in the device.

3.4 Print Document Verification Process The print document has three verification levels. As shown in FIG. 8, validation begins with some information about the document contained in document file 544 along with the print document 734 to be validated. The difference in verification between the electronic document 644 and the paper document 734 is
That is, the paper document 734 can be verified by visual inspection, and the paper document 734 cannot be verified in the same manner as the electronic document 544 without first scanning it and converting it to digital form. Module 8 for first level verification
Visual inspection of the e-seal according to 10; second level verification is module 820
Is the verification of the optically detectable components by. The verification device can again be a special lens or a simple optical device such as a conventional photocopier.
After photocopying, some patterns should be visible / invisible on the optically detectable element. This pattern may or may not be visible within normal viewing distance on the original printed copy 734. If the verification result is “OK” and the verification level is acceptable, then the verification process can end in module 810 or 820.

A third level of verification is to scan the paper document using the scan module 830 and convert it to digital form. However, the digital document obtained by scanning is in raster data format, which differs from the original electronic document in which text, graphics and tables are coded in their usual way. Noise and other distortions may be added to e-seal image and photo content,
They are originally in raster format. Therefore, the watermark extraction module 840 and the reduction extraction module 850 should allow distortion and different formats. In some applications, if the selected item is selected to be used as a contraction of content, the manual input for the selected item may be electronic document 544 and printed document 73.
In some cases both 4 work well.

After the watermark extraction 840 by the key, the original reduction of the content is recorded and compared by the module 850 with the reduction extracted from the content of the paper document. The verification is successful if there is no difference between them or if the difference does not exceed a threshold value that results in a positive verification result 854.

4. Products / Services Many products and services can be generated from the embodiments of the present invention.
Two examples will be described below. These basic concepts can be applied to many other similar applications.

4.1 Reliable Copy Delivery Currently, official documents and many other secure documents are physically delivered by courier, such as mail or Federal Express. Embodiments of the present invention facilitate electronic delivery of reliable document copies. That is, the recipient can receive the trusted document in electronic and / or paper print format. There are two types of settings:

The first setting is that the sender's organization is officially authorized and a computer system having the above-mentioned functions is set up: 1) First, the sender is an electronic Prepare an electronic document by editing the document or scanning a paper document with a scanner. The sender then logs in to the organization's computer system, receives approval, unlocks the person's e-seal, signs the document, and the sender sends the document to the recipient in electronic and / or paper format. Send the document to the recipient, specifying whether you want to receive it in. 2) When the recipient receives a notification (organization-to-organization or organization-to-individual) or when the recipient requests a document (ticket, coupon, gazette, receipt, etc.),
Log in to the sender's system to obtain an electronic document and / or print a paper document. When the document is printed, the sender's system calls the print function,
A sender's e-seal and an optically sensitive element are added to print a reliable copy.

The second setting is the setting that the document is sent via the service center: 1) First, the sender prepares the electronic document by editing the electronic document or reading a paper document with a scanner. To do. The sender logs in to the service center, confirms that he is who he is, unlocks his e-seal, signs the document, and the sender sends the document to the recipient in electronic and / or paper format. Send the document to the recipient, specifying whether you want to receive it in. 2) When the recipient receives the notification (between the organization and the organization or between the organization and the individual) or when the recipient requests a document (ticket, coupon, gazette, etc.), the recipient logs in to the service center and downloads the electronic document. Obtain and / or print a paper document.
When a document is printed, the print function is invoked from the service center and the sender's e-seal and optically sensitive elements are added to print a reliable copy. Alternatively, the service center can add a notarized seal and optically sensitive elements to prove that it is a true copy.

4.2 Certification and Notarization Currently, certifying and notarizing official documents and documents such as graduation certificates, marriage certificates and certified copies are all done in paper format. For example, an Asian college student applying for a graduate school at a U.S. university must have all personal certificates and records created by the university authorities.
You must have it sent through the public postal system. The big problem here is that there are many universities in the world. Moreover, it is difficult for admission staff to judge the validity of these documents. Moreover, students do not know if the documents they send are acceptable.

The generation of certificates and notaries here applies to all types of documents, including but not limited to birth certificates, marriage certificates, diplomas and official documents. Below, we will explain using a degree certificate as an example. This embodiment of the present invention is directed to a configuration and technology for the work of a certification / notary service center.

The service center 910 shown in FIG. 9 includes a document issuer 930 (for example, a university in which a student has a degree), a document owner 920 (a graduate), and a document recipient 940 (where the student aims for a higher degree). Provide online services to universities that apply for admission. The various application processes are as follows.

First, when the document owner 920 applies for an electronic degree certificate with the issuer 930 specified through the service center 910, the following steps are performed: 1) The owner 920 is the service center. Log on to the web page at 910, register if you have not already done so, and complete the application form. 2) The service center 910 communicates with the issuer 930 regarding the application and establishes a business link between the service center 910 and the issuer 930 if it is not available. 3) The issuer 930 connects to the service center 910, issues an electronic degree certificate for the owner 920, and sends the certificate to the owner 910 via the service center 910. 4) The service center 910 keeps a record of the certificate, which is collected during the certificate issuance process and is sufficient for verification work. 5) The owner 920 can choose to either keep the e-certificate or rent a secure deposit box and deposit the certificate at the service center 910.

Secondly, the owner 920 sends a paper document (degree certificate) to the service center 910.
There is another form of applying for a digital certificate service, and the following steps are performed: 1) The service center 910 issues the legitimacy of the paper document based on its own legal qualification. Verify by a person 930, convert the paper document into electronic form, sign the electronic version, and assign a trust level to the document. For example, the trust level can be high if verified by the original issuer. 2) The service center 910 keeps a record of the certificate. 3) The owner 920 can choose to either keep the e-certificate or borrow the deposit box and deposit the certificate at the service center 910.

Third, the owner (student) 920 sends the electronic document (degree certificate) to the recipient 940 (
The following steps are performed in the form of a student applying to send to a university that is applying for more advanced research. 1) The owner 920 logs in to the web page of the service center 91, and fills in the application form. 2) The service center 910 approves the electronic document and sends the document to the recipient 940 with the service center's e-seal and security statement (level of trust). 3) Once the recipient 940 collects the electronic document, the service center 910 notifies the owner 920 of its status.

Fourth, the following steps are performed in a form that allows a party to apply for a document validation service: 1) The party must register for that service. 2) The registered party logs on to the web page of the service center 910 and sends the electronic document. 3) The service center 910 checks the document record and executes verification.
If there is no record, the service center 910 will include the service center's e-seal with the security statement in the document after contacting the issuer 930 for verification. 4) The service center 910 records the document and returns the electronic document to the registered party.

Fifth, the service center 910 receives an application for printing a hard copy of an electronic document from the owner 910 or another party. 1) The user must register at the service center 910. 2) The user logs in to the web page of the service center 910 and sends an electronic document. 3) The service center 910 performs verification on the electronic document, assigns a confidence level to the document, and prints a copy with the center's e-seal and a dedicated optically sensitive element.

Sixth, the following steps are performed in the form that the service center 910 receives an application for verification of the validity of a printed copy: 1) The service center 910 verifies the validity of the e-seal by visual inspection. Verify. 2) The service center 910 verifies the validity of the optically sensitive element. 3) The service center 910 verifies the validity of the document by scanning the paper document with a scanner and checking the document content contraction and the ownership of the e-seal (if necessary).

In the sixth process, the service center 910 need only record the documents required for the verification service. When a document is signed using the services provided by service center 910, records are created and data is collected. That is, the service center 910 does not maintain a copy of the entire document. By doing so, the authority of the issuer 920 is fully respected and the privacy of the owner is protected. If a user chooses to rent a depository box at the service center 910, the depositary box is protected by that user. The service center 910 has no right to access the contents of the deposit box.

The certificate owner 920 can choose to send the e-certificate directly to anyone.

This service center 910 is advantageous for a number of reasons: 1) There are many document publishers around the world, and with regard to those publishers and the documents issued by them. Little or no information is available. Therefore,
There are few effective means for verification. 2) It takes time and money for the owner to send a paper document and provide public evidence of the document's legitimacy. 3) It is not efficient for each issuer to provide verification services regarding the authenticity of certificates and other documents.

4.3 Electronic Checks Checks or transferable securities are used and preferred by many to pay bills. The parties in this case are the payer, the payee, the payer's bank, the payee's bank and the service center. The product types of electronic check services are as follows.

First, the payer issues a check, which includes the following steps: A) The payer registers with the service center 910 for service usage. B) The payer logs on to the service center 910 through the center's web page. C) The payer fills out the payment form and signs it using the same means as at the bank (pin number, fingerprint, registration face etc.). The payment information includes the payer's bank and bank account, name and identification number, payee's name, amount and date of payment. D) The service center 910 links to the payer's bank for verification. E) The service center 910 signs the check with the e-seal of both the payer and the service center and sends the check to the payee. F) If the payee gets the check, the service center 910 notifies the payer accordingly. G) The payer may choose to print the check using the print function provided by the service center 910 and hand the check to the payee. The printed check has the security features of the payer's bank, payer's signature, seal and optically perceptible elements provided by the service center 910 and is reliable.

Second, in the form that the payee bills for the check, it includes the following steps: A) The payee registers with the service center 910. B) The recipient logs on to the web page of the service center. C) The recipient sends an electronic check to the service center 910. D) Alternatively, the payee sends the check to the payee's bank, the bank reads it into the scanner and reads the necessary information from the check, and the information is read by the service center 9
It is also possible to send to 10. E) The service center 910 verifies the check according to the original form filled out by the payer. F) The service center 910 sends the check with the verification result to the recipient's bank. G) The payer's bank accepts the check and promises the transfer of the date indicated on the check. H) If the payer's bank denies payment to the check, the payer's bank signs the check against payment. The service center 910 notifies the payer, the payee, and the payee's bank with a copy of the check that is signed to refuse payment. I) In any case, if a printed copy is requested by the payer, the payer's bank, the payee and the payee's bank, the service center verifies the check in its original form and is designed for that check. Printing a copy of the paper with the addition of optically sensitive elements.

4.4 Service Center for Secured Documents with Multiple Signers In the case where a document has multiple signers, all signers are registered with the service center 910 or the system administrator of the organization. Service center 91
0 has obtained the public key certificate for the business, and the user (signer,
Recipients, etc.) are assumed to have their own public key certificates.

In the case of a contract between several parties, the following steps are involved: A) The parties communicate in order to obtain a formal copy that all parties can agree on. The service center 910 seals the document, freezes it, and sends the document to one of the signers for signature initiation. B) All parties log on to the service center 910 so they can sign at any time. C) The process of one of the parties signing a document and sending the document to the next party is repeated until all parties have signed the document. This signing process automatically verifies the validity of the service center seal to ensure that no changes have been made to the agreed documents. A document record is created at the service center 910 during the signing process. D) Alternatively, all parties sign the document at the same time. That is, after the first signature, the signer sends the document back to the service center 910, and the service center 910 distributes the document to the parties for the second signature. Hereinafter, such processing is repeated. In this case, the number of copies of the signed document is the same as the number of signers. Each copy has a different signature order but the same effect. E) The signed copy is kept under the signer. Signers can rent a depository box from the service center 910 and choose to keep their copy secure there. F) Upon request, the service center 910 verifies a paper copy of the document and prints the document with the addition of the optically sensitive elements generated by the service center 910. The optically sensitive element is combined with the last signer's e-seal.

In the case where there are multiple signers in the official document, the system server of the organization can be used instead of the service center and the following steps are performed: A) Official document (eg building design documents) ) Is created by the applicant. B) The applicant logs in to the system server. The applicant signs the document with his private key and sends it through the system server to the next person for verification / approval. C) The system server notifies the next person of the arrival of the document, who signs the document. D) The system server creates a record of the document and files that record for subsequent verification. E) The final signed document is filed in the organization's archive. F) Upon request, the system server verifies and prints a paper copy of the document. The printed copy has optically sensitive elements added to the document. The optically sensitive element is sent from a system server designed for this particular document and combined with the final signer's e-seal.

Embodiments of the present invention are preferably implemented using a general purpose computer. In particular, the processes or functions of FIGS. 1 to 9 can be implemented as software or a computer program executed on a computer. The methods or process steps for protecting the legitimacy of electronic documents and their corresponding printed documents are accomplished by the instructions of software executed by a computer. The software can be implemented as one or more modules for performing process steps. A module is typically a part of a computer program that performs a particular function or related functions. Also, as mentioned above, a module may be a hardware functional unit packaged for use with other components or modules.

In particular, the software may be a floppy disk, hard disk drive, magneto-optical disk drive, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, or any of many other non-volatile storage devices known to those skilled in the art. Can be stored on a computer-usable medium or a computer-readable medium. The software is preferably loaded from the computer usable medium into the computer and then executed by the computer. Computer program products include computer-usable media, such as computer programs recorded on software or media that can be executed by a computer. The use of computer program products in computers preferably achieves an advantageous system for trading virtual goods.

A computer system can connect to one or more other computers via a communication interface using suitable communication channels such as modem communication paths, computer networks, etc. Computer networks include, for example, local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), intranets and / or the Internet.

A wide variety of computer system configurations can be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Examples of computers that can implement the embodiments include IBM-PC / AT or compatibles, PCs of the Macintosh (registered trademark) family, Sun Spark Station (registered trademark), workstations, and the like. These are merely examples of the types of computers that may implement embodiments of the invention.

Generally, the processes of the embodiments are installed in the form of software or a program recorded on a hard disk drive as a computer-readable medium, and are read and controlled using a computer system. In some cases,
The program is encoded on a CD-ROM or a floppy (registered trademark) disk and supplied to the user, or read by the user from a network, for example, via a modem device connected to a computer. Besides,
The software may be any other computer readable medium, including magnetic tape, ROM or integrated circuits, magneto-optical disks, wireless or infrared transmission channels between the computer and other devices, computer readable cards such as PCMCIA cards, and email transmission. It can also be loaded into a computer system from the Internet and an Intranet containing information recorded on a web site or the like. The above are merely examples of suitable computer-readable media. Other computer-readable media may be implemented without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

The electronic document and its print document capable of protecting the validity, and the method, device, computer program product and system for protecting the validity of the electronic document and the print document have been described above. Although only a few examples have been described,
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure that many changes and / or modifications can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a grayscale image illustrating an example of an e-seal and the role of e-seal elements in file protection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a grayscale image illustrating an example of an e-seal and the role of e-seal elements in file protection according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1C is a grayscale image illustrating an example of an e-seal and the role of e-seal elements in file protection according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a content definition method for a document with multiple signers according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a grayscale image showing an example of watermarking a seal image (ie a Lina image) that embeds document reductions in the spatial domain using binary coding in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a layout of a document with electronic seal (e-seal) protection according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a process of electronic document authorization using an e-seal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a verification process of an electronic document according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a printing process for converting an electronic document into a paper printing plate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a process of verifying a paper document according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a service center for certification / notarization in the embodiment of the present invention.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Dengue, Huisy             Namri Rye, 267110, Singapore             Z 2 F term (reference) 5B009 NG02 SA11 TB13                 5B057 AA11 CA19                 5C076 AA14 BA06

Claims (95)

[Claims] 1. In an electronic document capable of copying a corresponding printed document which is a paper printing version of the electronic document capable of protecting the legitimacy of the electronic document, the content of the original document in electronic form and the electronic form Of the content of the original document, and an electronic seal or e-e that includes a visible seal of authority and a contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal for authenticating the original document in electronic form. A seal and said information comprising information for indicating a copy or modification of said printed document in a copy or modified version of said printed document that is optically perceptible or detectable to be printed using a reliable printing process. An electronic document characterized by comprising the elements added to the authenticated document. 2. The electronic document of claim 1, further comprising a watermark in the e-seal for embedding a contraction of the content in the visible seal. 3. The electronic document of claim 2, wherein the contraction of the content is encrypted prior to watermarking the visible sticker. 4. At least one of the embedded address, shape and boundary of the watermark is a key for encrypting the contraction of the content and / or watermarking the e-seal. The electronic document according to claim 3. 5. The contracting of the content comprises hashing the content using a secure hashing process, selecting major items of the content, and extracting features of the content. The electronic document of claim 1, wherein the electronic document is a contracted representation of the original document generated by steps selected from the group consisting of: 6. The contracted representation of the content is a contracted representation of the original document generated by block-based contraction derivation in which each block applied to the content has a predetermined size and shape. The electronic document of claim 1, wherein the contraction comprises an array of labels, each label dependent on a classification of a corresponding block of the content. 7. The electronic document of claim 1, wherein the visible seal includes at least one of a document header, a logo or artwork, a graphic symbol and a signature. 8. The electronic document of claim 1, wherein the optically sensitive or detectable element includes a serial number for the electronic document. 9. The electronic document according to claim 1, wherein at least one of two or more pages in the content and multimedia information, and at least one of the content, the e-seal, and another document element are localized. The electronic document according to claim 1, comprising one or more landmarks. 10. The second e-seal further comprising a second e-seal, wherein the second e-seal comprises the original document and the content of the first e-seal. Content, and a visible seal of authority and the second e- embedded in the visible seal.
The electronic document according to claim 1, further comprising: a content contraction that depends on the content of the sticker. 11. The electronic document of claim 1, further comprising an invisible watermark embedded in the e-seal to protect the proprietary ownership of the e-seal. 12. A printed document copied from an electronic document, which is a paper-printed version of the electronic document and which can protect the legitimacy of the electronic document, and the rendered content of the original document and the rendered content of the printed document. An electronic seal or e-seal containing a visible authorization seal and a reduction of the content of the original document embedded in the visible seal for authenticating the original document; and a copy of the printed document or An optically perceptible or detectable element rendered to the authenticated document using a reliable printing process, including information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a modified version. A printed document characterized by: 13. The printed document of claim 12, further comprising a watermark in the rendered e-seal for embedding a contraction of the content in the visible seal. . 14. The printed document of claim 13, wherein the contraction of the content is encrypted prior to watermarking the visible sticker. 15. At least one of an embedded address, shape and boundary of the watermark is a key for encrypting a contraction of the content and / or for watermarking the e-seal. The printed document according to claim 14. 16. The contraction of the content comprises hashing the content using a secure hashing process, selecting major items of the content, and extracting features of the content. 13. The printed document according to claim 12, wherein the printed document is a contracted representation of the original document generated by a step selected from the group consisting of: 17. A contraction of the content is a contracted representation of the original document generated by block-based contraction derivation in which each block applied to the content has a predetermined size and shape. 13. The printed document of claim 12, wherein the contraction comprises an array of labels, each label dependent on a classification of a corresponding block of the content. 18. The rendered visible seal is a document header,
13. A printed document according to claim 12, comprising at least one of a logo or artwork, a graphic symbol and a signature. 19. The printed document of claim 12, wherein the optically sensitive or detectable element comprises a serial number for the printed document. 20. The electronic document comprises: 1 for locating at least one of two or more pages in the content and multimedia information, and at least one of the content, the e-seal, and another document element. 13. The printed document according to claim 12, comprising one or more landmarks. 21. A second rendered e-seal further comprising the second e-seal including the original document and the content of the first e-seal. The content of the e-seal, the authorized visible seal and the second e-embedded in the visible seal.
13. The printed document according to claim 12, further comprising: content contraction that depends on the content of the sticker. 22. The printed document of claim 12, further comprising an invisible watermark embedded in the e-seal to protect the proprietary ownership of the e-seal. 23. In a method of protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document which is a paper print version of the electronic document, the step of generating a contraction of the content of the original document in electronic form, the visibility of the authority Authenticating the original document in electronic form with an electronic seal or an e-seal containing a reduction seal and a reduction of the content embedded in the visible seal, and printed using a reliable printing process. Adding an optically perceptible or detectable element to the authenticated document, the information comprising information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in the copy or modified version of the printed document. A method characterized by comprising. 24. The step of authenticating comprises watermarking a contraction of the content in the visible seal and embedding the contraction of the content in the visible seal. 23. The method described in 23. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the authenticating step comprises encrypting a contraction of the content prior to watermarking the visible seal. 26. At least one of an embedded address, shape and boundary of the watermark is a key for encrypting a contraction of the content and / or for watermarking the e-seal. The method of claim 25. 27. The contraction of the content comprises hashing the content using a secure hashing process, selecting major items of the content, and extracting features of the content. 24. The method of claim 23, which is a condensed representation of the original document produced by steps selected from the group consisting of: 28. A contraction of the content is a contracted representation of the original document generated by block-based contraction derivation in which each block applied to the content has a predetermined size and shape. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the contraction comprises an array of labels, each label dependent on a classification of a corresponding block of the content. 29. The method of claim 23, wherein the visible seal comprises at least one of a document header, a logo or artwork, a graphic symbol and a signature. 30. The method of claim 23, wherein the optically sensitive or detectable element comprises a serial number for the electronic document. 31. The electronic document is provided for locating at least one of two or more pages in the content and multimedia information, and at least one of the content, the e-seal, and another document element. 24. The method of claim 23, comprising one or more landmarks. 32. A second e-seal further comprising a second e-seal, wherein the second e-seal comprises the original document and the content of the first e-seal. Content, and a visible seal of authority and the second e- embedded in the visible seal.
24. The method of claim 23, comprising: content contraction that depends on the content of the seal. 33. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of embedding an invisible watermark in the e-seal to protect the ownership of the authority of the e-seal. 34. In an apparatus for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document which is a paper print version of the electronic document, means for generating a contraction of the content of the original document in electronic form, A means for authenticating the content of the original document in electronic form using an electronic seal or an e-seal that includes a visible seal of authority and a reduction of the content embedded in the visible seal; A document that has been authenticated with an optically sensitive or detectable element containing information to indicate a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document as printed using a printing process. And a means for adding to the device. 35. The means for authenticating comprises means for watermarking a contraction of the content in the visible sticker and embedding the contraction of the content in the visible sticker. 35. The device according to claim 34. 36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for authenticating comprises means for encrypting a contraction of the content prior to watermarking the visible seal. . 37. At least one of an embedded address, shape and boundary of the watermark is a key for encrypting a contraction of the content and / or for watermarking the e-seal. The device of claim 36. 38. The contraction of the content comprises means for hashing the content using a secure hashing process, means for selecting a main item of the content, and extracting features of the content. 35. The apparatus of claim 34, which is a reduced representation of the original document produced by means selected from the group consisting of: 39. A contraction of the content is a contracted representation of the original document generated by means for block-based contraction derivation of the content, wherein each block has a predetermined size and shape. 35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the contraction of each label comprises an array of labels, each label dependent on a classification of a corresponding block of the content. 40. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the visible seal comprises at least one of a document header, logo or artwork, graphic symbol and signature. 41. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the optically sensitive or detectable element comprises a serial number for the electronic document. 42. The electronic document is provided for localizing at least one of two or more pages in the content and multimedia information, and at least one of the content, the e-seal, and another document element. 35. The device of claim 34, comprising one or more landmarks. 43. A second e-seal further comprising a second e-seal, wherein the second e-seal comprises the original document and the content of the first e-seal. Content, and a visible seal of authority and the second e- embedded in the visible seal.
35. The apparatus of claim 34, comprising content contraction that depends on the content of the sticker. 44. The method of claim 34, further comprising means for embedding an invisible watermark in the e-seal to protect the ownership of the authority of the e-seal. apparatus. 45. A computer program product having a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code means implemented therein for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document which is a paper print version of the electronic document. Computer readable program code means for generating a contraction of the content of an original document in the form of an electronic seal or e-seal including a visible seal of authority and a contraction of said content embedded in the visible seal A computer readable program code means for authenticating the original document in electronic form using a copy of the print document or a copy of the print document in a modified version, or a copy of the print document for printing using a reliable printing process or Optically sensitive or sensitive, including information to indicate modification Computer readable program code means for adding possible elements to the authenticated document, and a computer program product. 46. Computer readable program code means for authenticating for embedding a contraction of the content in the visible seal and embedding the contraction of the content in the visible seal. The computer program product of claim 45, comprising program code means. 47. The computer readable program code means for authenticating comprises computer readable program code means for encrypting a contraction of the content prior to watermarking the visible seal. A computer program product according to claim 46. 48. At least one of an embedded address, shape and boundary of the watermark is a key for encrypting a contraction of the content and / or for watermarking the e-seal. A computer program product according to claim 47. 49. Computer readable program code means for hashing the content using a secure hashing process, and computer readable program code means for selecting a major item of the content. 46. A program readable program code means for extracting characteristics of the content, and a condensed representation of the original document generated by the program readable program code means selected from the group consisting of: The computer program product described. 50. A contraction of the content is a contracted representation of the original document generated by computer readable program code means for deriving a block-based contraction of the content, wherein each block has a predetermined size and shape. 46. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein the contraction of the content comprises an array of labels, each label dependent on a classification of a corresponding block of the content. 51. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein the visible seal comprises at least one of a document header, a logo or artwork, a graphic symbol and a signature. 52. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein the optically sensitive or detectable element comprises a serial number for the electronic document. 53. The electronic document is provided for localizing at least one of two or more pages and multimedia information in the content, and at least one of the content, the e-seal, and another document element. The computer program product of claim 45, comprising one or more landmarks. 54. A second e-seal further comprising a second e-seal, the second e-seal including the original document and the content of the first e-seal. Content, and a visible seal of authority and the second e- embedded in the visible seal.
46. The computer program product of claim 45, comprising: content contraction that depends on the content of the sticker. 55. The method of claim 45, further comprising means for embedding an invisible watermark in the e-seal to protect the ownership of the authority of the e-seal. Computer program product. 56. In a system using a network for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document which is a paper print version of the electronic document, for generating a contraction of the content of the original document in electronic format. Means for authenticating the original document in electronic form using an electronic seal or an e-seal containing a visible seal of authority and a contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal; Authenticate the optically sensible or detectable element containing information to indicate a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document to be printed using a reliable printing process. And a means for adding to the created document, and a system. 57. The means for authenticating comprises means for watermarking a contraction of the content in the visible sticker and embedding the contraction of the content in the visible sticker. 57. The system of claim 56. 58. The system of claim 57, wherein the means for authenticating comprises means for encrypting a contraction of the content prior to watermarking the visible seal. . 59. At least one of the embedded address, shape and boundary of the watermark is a key for encrypting a contraction of the content and / or for watermarking the e-seal. The system of claim 58. 60. The contraction of the content comprises means for hashing the content using a secure hashing process, means for selecting a main item of the content, and extracting features of the content. 57. The system of claim 56, wherein the system is a reduced representation of the original document produced by means selected from the group consisting of: 61. A contraction of the content is a contracted representation of the original document generated by means for block-based contraction derivation of the content, each block having a predetermined size and shape. 57. The system of claim 56, wherein each reduction comprises an array of labels, each label dependent on a classification of a corresponding block of the content. 62. The system of claim 56, wherein the visible seal comprises at least one of a document header, a logo or artwork, a graphic symbol and a signature. 63. The system of claim 56, wherein the optically sensitive or sensitive element comprises a serial number for the electronic document. 64. The electronic document is provided for localizing at least one of two or more pages and multimedia information in the content, and at least one of the content, the e-seal, and another document element. 57. The system of claim 56, comprising one or more landmarks. 65. The second e-seal further comprising a second e-seal, the second e-seal including the original document and the content of the first e-seal. Content, and a visible seal of authority and the second e- embedded in the visible seal.
57. The system of claim 56, comprising: content contraction that depends on the content of the seal. 66. The method of claim 56, further comprising a trusted printing or copying device for printing the authenticated document that includes the optically sensitive or detectable element. System. 67. The trusted printing or copying device is accessible via the network and is remote from one or more of the other components of the system. The system of claim 66. 68. The method of claim 56, further comprising means for embedding an invisible watermark in the e-seal to protect the ownership of the authority of the e-seal. system. 69. In a system for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a print document corresponding to the electronic document, the contents of the original document in electronic form and the authority to authenticate the contents of the original document in electronic form are visually recognized Means for producing a certified electronic document containing an electronic seal or an e-seal containing a possible seal and a reduction of the content embedded in the visible seal, and printed using a reliable printing process. To generate an optically sensible or detectable element attached to the authenticated electronic document containing information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document. Means for verifying the authenticity of the authenticated electronic document, and reliable printing according to the means for verifying System characterized in that it comprises a means for obtaining an authenticated printed document by printing the authenticated electronic document and said optically sensitive element using the process. 70. The means for verifying legitimacy comprises contracting watermarked content with a corresponding one of the one or more e-seals included in the authenticated electronic document. 70. The system of claim 69 including means for verifying by matching. 71. The means for verifying legitimacy further comprises means for localizing and verifying one or more e-seals in the authenticated electronic document. Item 70. The system according to item 70. 72. The means for verifying legitimacy further comprises means for verifying the validity of each of the one or more e-seals included in the authenticated electronic document. 71. The system of claim 70, characterized by: 73. The system according to claim 69, further comprising means for verifying the legitimacy protection of the authenticated print document based on the electronic document. 74. The means for verifying authenticity protection of the authenticated printed document further comprises: visually inspecting the visible seal of each of the one or more e-seals. Means for verifying the optically sensitive element of the authenticated printed document; scanning the authenticated printed document for watermarking from each of the one or more e-seals. 74. The system of claim 73, including means for extracting, and means for extracting a contraction of content from each of the watermarks and verifying the contraction of the extracted content. . 75. In a method for protecting the legitimacy of an electronic document and a print document corresponding thereto, the content of an original document in electronic form and the authority for authenticating the content of the original document in electronic form are visible. Generating a certified electronic document that includes an electronic seal or an e-seal that includes a seal and a reduction of the content embedded in the visible seal, and as printed using a reliable printing process, Generating an optically perceptible or detectable element added to the authenticated electronic document that includes information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in the copy or modified version of the printed document; Verifying the authenticity of the certified electronic document and using a reliable printing process depending on the verifying step. How to characterized in that it comprises the steps of: obtaining an authenticated printed document by printing the serial authenticated electronic document and said optically sensitive element. 76. The step of verifying the legitimacy comprises contracting the watermarked content with a corresponding one of one or more e-seals included in the authenticated electronic document. 76. The method of claim 75 including the step of verifying by matching. 77. The step of verifying the authenticity further comprises the step of localizing and verifying one or more e-seals in the authenticated electronic document. system. 78. The step of verifying the legitimacy further comprises the step of verifying the validity of each of the one or more e-seals included in the authenticated electronic document. Item 76. The method according to Item 76. 79. The method of claim 75, further comprising the step of verifying the authenticity protection of the authenticated print document based on the electronic document. 80. Verifying the authenticity protection of the authenticated printed document further comprises visually inspecting the visible seal of each of the one or more e-seals. Verifying the optically sensitive element of an authenticated printed document; scanning the authenticated printed document to extract a watermark from each of the one or more e-seals. 80. The method of claim 79, comprising: extracting a content reduction from each of the watermarks and verifying the extracted content reduction. 81. A computer program product having a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means for protecting legitimacy of an electronic document and a corresponding printed document, the content of an original document in electronic form, And generating an authenticated electronic document including an electronic seal or e-seal that includes a visible seal of authority for authenticating the original document in the electronic form and a contraction of content embedded in the visible seal. A computer readable program code means for authenticating the printed document, the information including the information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document to be printed using a trusted printing process. Generate optically sensitive or detectable elements attached to electronic documents A computer readable program code means for verifying, a computer readable program code means for verifying the authenticity of the authenticated electronic document, and a reliable printing process depending on the computer readable program code means for verifying Computer readable program code means for obtaining an authenticated printed document by printing the authenticated electronic document and the optically sensitive element. . 82. Computer readable program code means for verifying the authenticity of a reduction of watermarked content corresponding to one or more e-seals included in the authenticated electronic document. 82. The computer program product of claim 81 including computer readable program code means for verifying by matching against one e-seal. 83. Computer readable program code means for verifying the authenticity further comprises computer readable program code means for localizing and verifying one or more e-seals in the authenticated electronic document. 83. A computer program product according to claim 82, comprising: 84. A computer for verifying the validity of computer readable program code means further for verifying the validity of each of one or more e-seals contained in the authenticated electronic document. 83. A computer program product according to claim 82, comprising readable program code means. 85. The computer program according to claim 81, further comprising computer readable program code means for verifying the authenticity protection of the authenticated print document based on the electronic document. Product. 86. Before verifying the legitimacy protection of the authenticated printed document
Computer readable program code means further visually inspects the visible seal of each of the one or more e-seals.
Computer readable program code means for verifying the optically sensitive element of the authenticated printed document.
A computer readable program code means for scanning the authenticated printed document and transmitting the information through each of the one or more e-seals.
Computer-readable program code means for extracting a watermark, and extracting a contraction of the content from each of the watermarks and extracting the extracted content.
86. The computer program product of claim 85, comprising computer readable program code means for verifying a reduction. 87. A method of reliable document delivery over a network, the steps of establishing a secure communication link between parties at one or more locations, and verifying that each party is who they claim to be. A step of providing means for the parties to sign the original document, the protected signed document being the content of the original document in electronic form, a contraction of the content of the original document in electronic form, and the original form of the electronic form. In order to authenticate the document, the legitimacy of the electronically signed document in the form of an electronic seal or e-seal containing a visible seal of authority and a contraction of the content embedded in the visible seal. Protecting and transmitting a protected signed electronic document from a sending party at a first location of the network to a receiving party at a second remote location. Notifying the recipient party of the transmitted protected electronic document; receiving the transmitted protected electronic document at a second remote location of the network; Sending an acknowledgment of receipt of the sent protected electronic document to a sending party at a location. 88. Further comprising verifying the legitimacy of the transmitted protected electronic document at the second remote location of the network to ensure legitimacy of the printed document, and reliable printing. The authenticated document is an optically sensitive or detectable element containing information for indicating a copy or modification of the printed document in a copy or modified version of the printed document as printed using a process. 89. The method of claim 87, further comprising: a. Printing a copy of the protected electronic document using a trusted printing process. 89. Further comprising the steps of establishing a secure network with the issuer, owner and recipient of the document, obtaining an electronic document relating to the owner and attaching a credit statement to the document; 88. The method of claim 87, comprising the step of delivering a trusted copy of the certificate to a recipient. 90. The method of claim 89, further comprising providing an electronic lending safe for storing electronic certificates. 91. The steps of establishing a secure network link from a service center to a payee, a payer and one or more respective banks; signing an electronic check and signing the signed electronic document. Sending the check to the payee, billing the check on behalf of the payee, clearing the transaction, and rejecting the check if the check is not valid. 88. The method of claim 87, which is an electronic check processing method including. 92. Establishing a secure network link between a service center and a signer, freezing an agreed upon version of the electronic document, sequentially or concurrently with the electronic document. 9. A method of signing a document with a plurality of signing parties including:
7. The method according to 7. 93. The method of claim 87, further comprising the step of converting the original document in printed form into an electronic form of the original document using a scanning process. 94. The method of claim 87, further comprising verifying the authenticity of the transmitted and protected electronic document at a location on the network. 95. The method of claim 87, further comprising the step of providing means for a party to sign the original document.