The two biggest detraction points are completely valid: 1) The need to install ANY (non-standard) software (by definition -everyone- should already be able to

The two biggest detraction points are completely valid: 1) The need to install ANY (non-standard) software (by definition -everyone- should already be able to use it). 2) The need for users to manage their own keys. I envision a solution to point 1 is making it a /feature/ of every OS to implement the required software for the open protocol. Prototype on BSD/Linux, get MacOS to ship slick versions of the protocol, and use THAT to club Microsoft over the head for also shipping support with Windows. Paired with point 1, smart USB attached keys. End users should think of that as their signature and their 'mark' for signing official legal things and literally inking a document with blood. The USB key should at least have a few lights as an indicator and a couple of buttons. It should be easy for the user to: * Allow it to AUTHENTICATE a provided datastream. * Allow it to decode and provide the unlock key for a datastream back to the computer. * Allow it to provide a signature for a datastream. I order those in the least to most trusted operations it should perform. It might, for a smarter device, support multiple keys or different trust levels of keys. With the above two frameworks in place all other problems become /far/ easier to solve, and the user experience will be much better (so it'll actually /happen/).