National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
211 E. Ontario Street, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60611
312/915-0195, Fax 312/915-0187, website www.nccusl.org
For Immediate Release:
UCITA STANDBY COMMITTEE IS DISCHARGED
August 1, 2003 – At its 112th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) discharged the standby committee of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. The discharge was approved by NCCUSL’s Executive Committee on July 31, 2003.
NCCUSL President K. King Burnett stated:
"Clearly our efforts to find consensus and to bring all of the interested parties together has been extraordinary. Unfortunately in the real world, sometimes doing the right thing at the right time is not enough. We have determined to focus the Conference’s energies on the items related to our larger agenda and not expend any additional Conference energy or resources in having UCITA adopted. Of course, we are not abandoning our interest in the subject matter. UCITA will remain in place as a resource for the American legal and political community, and for reference by the courts. At some time in the future, there will be opportunities for making contributions of law suitable for the information economy. The Conference remains interested in making these kinds of contributions, and will undoubtedly consider carefully any new opportunities that arise."
UCITA is the first uniform law governing information contracts. It adopts accepted and familiar principles of commercial contract law, and provides fundamental rules for licensing contracts between users and vendors. It has been enacted, to date, in Maryland and Virginia.
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is now in its 112th year. The organization comprises more than 350 lawyers, judges, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to draft proposals for uniform and model laws and work toward their enactment in their legislatures. Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
For further information until August 7, please contact John McCabe, Katie Robinson or Gabrielle Bamberger at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington DC at 202-393-2000. After August 7, John McCabe and Katie Robinson can be reached at NCCUSL at 312-915-0195, and Gabrielle Bamberger can be reached at 212-333-5222.