Non-repudiation with mandatory proof of receipt

Abstract

Non-repudiation allows an exchange of data between two principals in such a manner that the principals cannot subsequently deny their participation in the exchange. Current non-repudiation schemes, while providing a mandatory proof of origin service, generally provide only discretionary proof of receipt since it is difficult to enforce the return of the proof of receipt by the recipient.In this paper a new scheme for achieving mandatory mutual non-repudiation is proposed, encompassing both mandatory proof of origin and mandatory proof of receipt . The fundamental feature of the scheme is that the proofs of origin and receipt are not exchanged until both principals have submitted their digitally signed evidence to a trusted third party intermediary. This ensures that if the non-repudiation protocol is not completed, neither principal can gain from the exchange. An added advantage is that the process of dispute arbitration is considerably simplified since a small number of rules are required to decide whether an alleged data exchange took place.