Mike, It seems to me that some folks are confusing an EDI trading partner agreement with purchasing terms and conditions. These are very different animals. Companies can and do exchange business messages electronically but do not exchange purchase orders electronically. Additionally, the absence of a signature does NOT void a purchase order. A purchase order is an offer to buy. Once a supplier acknowledges that PO as it was received they've made an acceptance. If they change the PO in their acknowledge that constitutes a new offer or counter offer. Furthermore, once a supplier ACTS to fulfill or does fulfill the PO that action also constitutes "acceptance" of the offer to buy. Both parties have now entered into a contract which is legally binding. In basic contract law, then, what you have is an "offer to buy" and an "acceptance of the offer". This is contract law 101. It's unwise in my opinion to tie an EDI TPA to a purchasing agreement. These are separate and distinct business activities. Rachel I thought the purpose of the TPA was supplement the existing purchasing agreement to agree that an electronic document is a legal document. The absence of a signature on the electronic document opens the door to non-payment. The signature usually binds the agreement, lack of one might suggest no agreement was made. _____________________________________________________ EDI-Mike Michael Taylor EC Specialist Banctec - Corporate Information Systems (972)982-2815 ======================================================================= To contact the list owner: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/edi-l%40listserv.ucop.edu/
