Press Release

GlobalSign to announce success of the e-Notarization pilot at the NNA conference

The Steps to Successful e-Legalization through GlobalSign’s DocumentSign Services

London, UK – 20 May, 2008 – GlobalSign Ltd (www.globalsign.co.uk), one of the longest established Certification Authorities (CA) and specialists in digital certificate security, will announce the success of a UK based Adobe Certified Document Services (CDS) pilot project at this years’ National Notary Association’s (NNA) annual conference in New Orleans.  The UK pilot is the early stage of a global NNA project to establish a global partnership to define and deliver systems and standards that enable secure exchange of documents both domestically and between nations.

The pilot project uses GlobalSign’s DocumentSign solution (based on the Adobe CDS platform) and was initiated in December 2007 in the UK with the Notaries Society and represents around 800 Notaries Public practicing in England and Wales.  It quickly succeeded in meeting the goals to provide a legally admissible cost effective e-notarization solution.  Many notaries carry out work for commercial firms engaged in international trade, and for private individuals, such as dealing with aspects of the purchase or sale of land and property abroad.  In this respect the pilot offered an insight into the future use of CDS for e-Legalization, improving efficiency, speed and security whilst also eliminating the need for expensive courier services.  eNotarization offers a far more acceptable carbon footprint compared to the traditional paper and wax seal based industry. 

“I applaud the accomplishment of GlobalSign and the leadership of the Notaries Society of England and Wales for its commitment and leadership to preserving the Notary’s role in the digital age,” said National Notary Association Executive Director Timothy S. Reiniger, Esq., “This is truly a historic and groundbreaking development for providing citizens around the globe with secure eNotarization, and for establishing a firm legal foundation for eLegalization.”

The next stage of the project involves investigation by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office who will be represented by David Jones at the conference.

Presentations and demonstrations of e-Notarization currently in use in the UK will be made by Steve Roylance, Business Development Director for GlobalSign and Michael Lightowler a member of the Council of the Notaries Society.

Further information on the GlobalSign’s DocumentSign Adobe CDS services can be found at
http://www.globalsign.co.uk/adobe-cds/index.htm.

About the International Forum on eNotarization and eApostilles
Since 2005, the International Forum on eNotarization and eApostilles has been the premier source of information exchange for strengthening the trust, security and integrity of electronic documents exchanged between nations. Regularly attended by representatives from the world's Notary organizations, representatives from U.S. federal and state government, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, and government dignitaries from dozens of nations, forum participants have examined the international ramifications of authenticating and legalizing electronic documents through eNotarization, eApostille and eSignature technologies.

Initially created as a joint effort of the National Notary Association, the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the International Union of Notaries — and now presented annually by the NNA — the International Forum’s mission is to meet the increasing worldwide commercial and legal demands for trustworthy, expeditious and reliable methods and standards for lawfully executing electronic documents.

About The National Notary Association
Founded in 1957, the National Notary Association (NNA) is committed to the professional development of the 4.8 million Notaries throughout the United States by providing education, support and advocacy.  The NNA also educates lawmakers, businesses and state officials on best notarial practices, and leads efforts to make necessary changes in the state and federal statutory framework.  With a hundreds of thousands of members, the Association offers federally accredited Notary education programs. 

About GlobalSign
Established in 1996 and as a WebTrust accredited public certificate authority, GlobalSign offers publicly trusted SSL, including SSL Certificates, EV SSL, managed SSL services, S/MIME and Code Signing Certificates for use on all platforms including mobile devices. Its Trusted Root solution uses the widely embedded GlobalSign Root CA certificates to provide immediate PKI trust for Microsoft CA and enterprise CAs, eliminating the costs of using untrusted Root Certificates. Its partnership with Adobe to provide Certified Document Services (CDS) enables secure digitally signed PDF documents, certified transcripts and e-invoices.  These core Digital Certificate solutions allow its thousands of authenticated customers to conduct secure online transactions, data transfer, distribution of tamper-proof code, and protection of online identities for secure email and access control.  The company has a history of innovation within the online security industry and has offices in the US, UK, Belgium, Japan, and China. 

GMO Internet Group
GMO Internet Group, headquartered in Japan, is a leading force in the Internet industry offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of Internet services worldwide. The group holds top domestic market share in domain registration, web hosting, and payment processing and provides a host of other Internet services including global online security services, e-commerce solutions, and Internet advertising to both businesses and individuals. At the centre of the group is GMO Internet, Inc. a company listed on the prestigious first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE: 9449). Please visit www.gmo.jp/en for further details.

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