At 1:55 PM -0600 on 10/29/99, EDUCAUSE wrote: > ACTIVISTS DECRY BILLS ON 'DIGITAL SIGNATURE' > Consumer groups are up in arms over two bills in Congress, the > Millennium Digital Commerce Act and the Electronic Signatures in > Global and National Commerce Act, that would give digital > signatures equal legal footing with traditional signatures. The > bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, undermine the > effectiveness of state consumer-protection laws and do not > provide the same consumer protections as those given to > traditional paper records. The Senate bill leaves out key state > and federal consumer protections and interferes "with a state's > rights to protect its own consumers, without imposing any > protections against misuse, mistake, or fraud," says a letter > from the National Consumer Law Center. The White House has > soured on the Senate bill due to the effect it will have on > consumer protections and regulations, while Commerce Department > General Counsel Andrew J. Pincus says both the House and Senate > versions would have a devastating effect on state and federal > consumer protections. "Unscrupulous people" will be able to use > the bills to their advantage by preying on online consumers, > leading to a loss of consumer confidence in the Internet, > predicts Pincus. (Washington Post 10/29/99) ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
