UNAM
Revista Digital Universitaria
Revista Digital Universitaria ISSN: 1607 - 6079 | Publicación mensual | 1 de julio de 2013 vol.14, No.7

ABSTRACT

Timestamping: Optimization of technology applied to the time

Israel Becerril Sierra



This article shows the different ways of understanding time: spanning from the definition of time of the Spanish Royal Academy to Einstein’s the theory of relativity, to Jaime Sabines artistic treatment of time, to the precise way in which Galileo to describe this concept, as well as Aristotle and Newton views on time.

Timestamping is a great alternative to create digital evidence of any "data message" based on a client-server system.

In Mexico “Timestamps”, in conjunction with digital signatures (PKI - public-key infrastructure) and their respective government backing, can aid in steadfast resolution to important issues. Currently, timestamps are defined in Mexican commercial law as a digital signature service which could be employed for commercial transactions between the private sector and government (article 75 of the Commercial Code, which applies federal trade acts lists twenty five types of commercial acts, where legal acts before the Public Registry of Commerce, firm’s incorporation via electronic mediums, and sole registry of secured movable a bssets are included). Whereas timestamps are employed in legal processes such as in the Public Registry of Commerce, business incorporation and the registration of secured movable assets, processes such as patent registration and control and monitoring in health, to name a few, could also benefit from the use of timestamps.

In the short to medium-term, not only would all entities engaged in acts of commerce benefit, but all those who want to defend themselves via the amparo using timestamp’s technical and legal foundations may do so. It is a matter of time before timestamps universal acceptance will give rise to the creation of a new paradigm of "Timestamp habla" instead of the commonly heard "El papelito habla (translation: the paper speaks, so nothing else is valid)”.


Keywords: Timestamping, TSA, Digital signature, RFC3161, Legal processes, Reliability, Assurance, Security information, Data message, Innovation, Atomic clock.