Paper Signatures Suck (and musings on other legal anachronicities)

I rarely whine or complain about stuff I don't like, but it's about time I aired some of my frustration.

I think paper, hand signatures in this day and age are stupid and insecure. They can easily be forged/reproduced, and often times people spend little effort in making sure they sign things carefully and the same way every time. In addition, they require using paper (a limited resource) and extra effort and time. I need to print out 2 copies of a contract, sign them both with a pen, put them in an envelope, mail it to the other person, and then wait to get a fully executed copy back in the mail (remembering to follow up if it doesn't come). Faxing gets rid of the envelope and mailing step, but it's often still slow, cumbersome, and low quality (and you're stuck with another paper copy that you then need to scan back into your computer and store in a folder). This just seems so operationally inefficient to me. Using secure e-signatures, for example, seems like so much better of a solution.

I know there are various laws that require physical signatures (such as in real estate transactions and consumer home purchases), but I think that needs to change and be modernized.

There are so many better, easier to use technologies in existence that are more secure and more efficient. As I understand, there are 3 ways to authenticate a person: something you know (e.g., password), something you are (e.g., biometrics)/something you do (e.g., signature, voice perhaps), and something you have (e.g., RSA token). At this point, I understand some of these technologies may still be a bit expensive to roll out on a large scale, but I really think this is where things are going in the future.

But that's not all.

For my work on AMA, I had to negotiate and sign a lot of complex legal contracts. I saw so much inefficiency with respect to the work required to revise and collaborate on contracts with multiple counterparties and attorneys. And making sure you don't drop the ball on any important revision or issue is all up to you and your organizational/checklist-tracking abilities.

Managing the contract after execution is similarly manual, requiring calendaring, databasing, scanning, and manually indexing/categorizing the critical terms, references, and dates.

I don't know how many people suffer through these pains, and I'm hoping to learn through any feedback or comments people leave. What do you all think?

I definitely think there's a better way to do things, and that's what I'm hoping to achieve through Redlyne.