I read this this morning, and totally forgot to post it. It does seem pretty antiquated. I know that certain credit card companies will charge merchants more money to process credit cards when there is no signature captured. This is because when a charge is disputed having the signature greatly improves the ability of the merchant to win the dispute.

As a kid I used to spend a lot of time practicing both my parents signatures. I got pretty good at it and to this day I can easily sign my dads or my moms signature and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It allowed me to forge their signature on tests that I failed in school, which unfortunately was quite often.

Then, one time I got caught by my teacher. She called my father and I recall coming home from school that day terrified. My dad took me aside and told me that when I forged his signature I was stealing. I was stealing his identity and that my punishment would be as severe as it if I had stolen something from him. It sucked but the lesson stuck with me.