Potentials for Uniform Treatments of E-Commerce

The Internet is a wonderland that can be enjoyed by the young, old, and those in-between. It is also a vast commercial market where many contracts are formed every second. The Internet and E-Commerce have created new situations that have generated sweeping proposals for fundamental changes in contract law. During the first half of the 20th Century. when many businesses expanded their geographic scope, there was a tremendous desire for uniform treatment of contracts for the sale of goods throughout the U.S.A. and the whole world. That same dynamic is now occurring in E-Commerce. There is a general recognition of the desirability of uniform contract law to govern E-commerce, but to date that does not exist, though there are extensive proposals for reform of contract law on the Internet. E-Commerce is currently plagued by some of the same problems that led to the passage of the UCC. In the absence of uniform legislation, state-by-state differences are inevitable with respect to E-Commerce. State-by-state differences in E-Commerce contract law is widely viewed as undesirable. To deal with this problem, a number of uniform bills have been proposed including UCITA, UETA, and revisions to Article 2 of the UCC (Subpart B). The thrust of these uniform acts is to create legal parity between paper records and electronic records. There is considerable resistance by consumer groups to this parity and progress towards Passage of UCITA, UETA, and revised Article 2 has been slow. The UCITA covers licenses of computer software but does not cover the sale oil goods on the Internet. The scope of the UCITA includes computer software. multimedia interactive products, computer data and databases, and Internet and online information, The UETA deals comprehensively with E-Commerce and contract law. The UCC covers the sale of goods, which does not necessarily involve E-Commerce. The basic principles of contract law are modified to deal with Internet transactions. Intent is inferred from the operations of electronic agents and "signatures" can occur with a response to an invitation to click to accept.