Peter,
Anyone could Photoshop an "Official Copy" license document for printing, even if the PDF carried a digital signature. Other than for operating outside the USA where the printed license is required (CEPT, IARP, or other arrangements), FCC rules state that we are licensed if we have a call sign in the ULS database. That's been the case for some time, even before the recent change to not mail paper copies of licenses by default.
Even though FCC rules don't require us to have a paper copy of our license with us, with a few exceptions mentioned above, I still keep the card version of my license with me. It has been helpful, even if that happens just outside US borders.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK
On Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 7:45 PM, Peter Laws plaws0@gmail.com wrote:
Sadly, though, no digital signature ... At least they set the doc restrictions to Not Allowed for everything but printing. Easy to create one that looks just like it with fake info without the signature, though.
Thanks for pointing out the Official vs Reference - I'd not noticed that before.
-- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train! _______________________________________________