getting rid of paper files

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

On 02/28/2010 03:25 PM, edward chin wrote:
> If I understand the situation correctly, you need a way of indexing
> numerous paper documents and retaining a scanned copy of each.
>
> From a legal, artistic, or creative perspective, a copy is not an
> acceptable substitute for the original.

I notice that CIBC is scanning cheques and archiving them digitally. I 
don't know if they keep the originals or not but I know that they don't 
return them to me. My understanding is that this is acceptable to RevCan 
so if it works in that case, why shouldn't it work in Hugh's case?

The concept of "original" is pretty fuzzy when anyone can scan, create, 
or otherwise modify "originals" using commonly-available software. And 
what is an "original" when it comes to something like an invoice? Is it 
the first copy out of the printer? Is it the representation of the 
invoice as ones and zeros on the vendor's computer? Is it the copy that 
the vendor sends by postal mail to me, which may be the Nth copy that 
they printed? Is it the PDF that they put on their web site that I fetch 
and subsequently make multiple copies of in my backups? Is the first 
copy of the PDF "the original"? The paper invoicing and payments system 
is a house of cards that survives only because most people are honest 
and presumably, the cost of fraud is lower than the cost of changing the 
system to something more secure.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis
1419-3266 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326
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