National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws

211 E. Ontario St., Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60611
tel 312-915-0195, fax 312-915-0187

For Immediate Release

UNIFORM ACT ON ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS COMPLETED
New Act Supports the Use of Electronic Commerce

August 2, 1999 -- A national law group approved a new uniform act designed to support the use of electronic commerce, primarily by establishing the legal equivalence of electronic records and signatures with paper writings and manually-signed signatures. The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) at its 108th Annual Meeting in Denver, July 23-30, allows the use of electronic records and electronic signatures in any transaction, except transactions subject to the Uniform Commercial Code. The fundamental purpose of the UETA is to remove perceived barriers to electronic commerce and support the development of the information economy, the fastest growing segment of the U.S. economy.
"Electronic commerce is generating opportunities across all sectors. It is a source of new jobs and new wealth, and is dramatically reducing the cost of communication, information, and transactions. The emergence of both the Internet and the World Wide Web has revolutionized this young and vibrant economic sector," said Patricia B. Fry, Professor of Law at the University of North Dakota School of Law and Chair of the committee that drafted UETA. "This act provides a solid legal framework to allow for the continued development of innovative technology to facilitate electronic transactions."

The UETA is a procedural statute. It does not mandate either electronic signatures or records, but provides a means to effectuate transactions when they are used.

One of the most important provisions of the Act is the provision defining and giving validity to electronic signatures. An electronic signature is defined as "an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record." This definition covers a variety of signatures, including the standard webpage click-through process, where the process includes identification of the person.

A digital signature using encryption technology would qualify as an electronic signature, as would one's name at the end of an e-mail message -- so long as in each case the person intended to sign the record.

The UETA assures that writing requirements and signature requirements will not be barriers to electronic transactions. It insures that contracts and transactions are not denied enforcement because electronic media are used, and that courts accept electronic records into evidence. It avoids having the selection of paper vs. electronic govern the outcome of any disputes or disagreements, and it assures that parties have the freedom to select the medium for their transactions by agreement.

The UETA also authorizes state governmental entities to create, communicate, receive and store records electronically, and encourages state governmental entities to move to electronic media.

The UETA will put electronic commerce and paper-based commerce on the same legal footing, and not discriminate between different forms of technology.

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is now in its 108th year. The organization comprises more than 300 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 drafted more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

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