Mobile Electronic Signature Consortium (referred to as 'mSign') was founded in 1999 and comprised 35 member companies. In October 2000, the consortium published an XMl-interface defining a protocol allowing service providers to obtain a mobile (digital) signature from a mobile phone subscriber.
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In 2001, mSign gained industry-wide coverage when it became apparent that Brokat, a company of one of the founders, also obtained a process patent in Germany for using the mobile phone to generate digital signatures.
Technologies used
The mSign consortium created the standards on the assumption that a WAP phone with a WAP 1.2 implementation and digital keys stored on the SIM card (i.e. WIM) would be used to generate a mobile (digital) signature. During the standardization process, room was given also to other mechanisms for authenticating the mobile phone subscriber such as the sending of a password via SMS or Dialtone communication and voice identification. The specification also allowed for server-based digital signatures. In other words, digital signatures not generated in the mobile phone but on a central server that would then communicate with the signature requesting Service Providers via the mSign interface.
Founding members
The founding members were Siemens, E-Plus Mobilfunk, Mannesmann Mobilfunk, T-Mobile, VIAG Interkom, Schlumberger, Gemplus, T-Telesec, Trust Center of Deutsche Telekom, cv cryptovision and Brokat AG.
Other members
Later members include Advance Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., Cable & Wireless HKT, Carticom Corporation, Credit Agricole Indosuiez Luxembourg, EXCELSIS Informationssysteme GmbH, fun communications GmbH, Hewlett-Packard GmbH, Hypo Vereinsbank, IIS/GlobalSign Greece SA, InterCard POS–Service GmbH, ITFinity Solutions, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, MyAlert.com, NSE Software AG, ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH, PAGO eTransaction Services GmbH & Co. KG, payitmobile AG i.G., RCM Technologies (Operational Headquarter, Siemens AG, ICP CD M EBO, SONERA SMARTTRUST GmbH, TC TrustCenter GmbH, WAYS INDIA Ltd. and West LB.