Hello,
Please a newbie webmaster- I need an answer to a question how to
sign contracts for webmaster work.
How is it done? If I sign and fax a website design contract to
customers abroad
for them to sign, which they sign and fax back, is their faxed
signature legally binding without an orginal as a backup? Or should I
do all this by snail mail to have original signatures?
How do you sign contracts with clients abroad?
Are there useful references how to do it?

On 6 Sep, 09:44, "antanas.1...@gmail.com" <antanas.1...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Please a newbie webmaster- I need an answer to a question how to
> sign contracts for webmaster work.

Simplest:

Take a piece of paper, write on it. Most web-design is still done
with a large amount of face-to-face meeting between client and
developer.

Best remote method:

Investigate public key cryptography. Look into PGP and download the
open source equivalent of GnuPG. This works for an excellent
signature mechanism, although it requires customers who also
understand it.

Most practical remote method:

Fax or scan and email paper copies of documents with written
signatures. Follow up by mail.


> If I sign and fax a website design contract to
> customers abroad for them to sign, which they sign and fax back, is their faxed
> signature legally binding without an orginal as a backup?

Law on signature is variable between countries, but is largely
irrelvant. Contract law doesn't require a signature, it requires
agreement. If you mutually agree that faxed signatures will constitute
binding agreement to that contract (something you write into the
contract itself) then your fax constitutes this agreement to the
contract. Any disagreement afterwards cannot then claim that the
contract was unsigned: you can argue over the terms of the contract
(as ever!) but for a party to claim that the contract was actually
unsigned and thus inapplicable is no longer a matter of amicable(sic)
contract disagreements, it's a matter of alleging forgery by the other
party. Most clients will dispute the interpretation of the terms of a
contract, very few would go so far as to allege actual criminality in
this way.

antanas.1980@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello,
> Please a newbie webmaster- I need an answer to a question how to
> sign contracts for webmaster work.
> How is it done? If I sign and fax a website design contract to
> customers abroad
> for them to sign, which they sign and fax back, is their faxed
> signature legally binding without an orginal as a backup? Or should I
> do all this by snail mail to have original signatures?
> How do you sign contracts with clients abroad?
> Are there useful references how to do it?
>

At least in Maryland and North Carolina faxed signatures are valid.

You need to fax the entire contract to them (after you've signed it).
Then they need to fax the entire contract back to you (not just their
signature page).

The faxing of the entire contract proves they received the entire
contract and you didn't substitute a page later (date/time, fax number
and page number on the pages).

But like everything legal-related, check with your attorney. It's a
simple question and if you've got one you use for other things he may
not even charge you for it.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attglobal.net
==================

In article <1189068286.518053.78690@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups. com>,
antanas.1980@gmail.com says...
> Hello,
> Please a newbie webmaster- I need an answer to a question how to
> sign contracts for webmaster work.
> How is it done? If I sign and fax a website design contract to
> customers abroad
> for them to sign, which they sign and fax back, is their faxed
> signature legally binding without an orginal as a backup? Or should I
> do all this by snail mail to have original signatures?
> How do you sign contracts with clients abroad?
> Are there useful references how to do it?
>
>
According to my attorney (on the phone with him right now), a faxed
signature is legally binding in the US. I do it all the time with my US
clients and my one Canadian client.

The one client I had in the UK gave me a credit card number with a
scanned copy of the contract, so I was covered on all ends.

I can't tell you about any other country.

On Sep 6, 3:44 am, "antanas.1...@gmail.com" <antanas.1...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hello,
> Please a newbie webmaster- I need an answer to a question how to
> sign contracts for webmaster work.
> How is it done? If I sign and fax a website design contract to
> customers abroad
> for them to sign, which they sign and fax back, is their faxed
> signature legally binding without an orginal as a backup? Or should I
> do all this by snail mail to have original signatures?
> How do you sign contracts with clients abroad?
> Are there useful references how to do it?

If the value of the contract is less than a few thousand dollars then
I just do it all by email. THey just fill out the contract with their
name, title, address etc and email back to indicate acceptance.