The Act clarifies the legal validity of electronic contracts, signatures, notices, and other records, and allows contracting parties to choose the technology for authenticating their transactions without government intervention. It provides the legal certainty necessary for entrepreneurs to invest in electronic commerce. Firms need to know that their contracts and transactions will not be unenforceable solely because they are electronic. They need to know how they can satisfy State and Federal notice and record-keeping requirements with electronic notices and records. The Act does not diminish the protections offered by any Federal or State law relating to the rights of consumers, other than to eliminate requirements that contracts and other records be written and signed on paper.
Consumers retain the choice to do business and receive records on paper or online.
Before notices and disclosures may be sent electronically, consumers must give their consent and the firm must verify that the consumer will be able to access electron-ically the information that will be provided. Under my Administration, the Federal Government is rapidly adapting to the digital age. Federal and State government agencies still need, however, the ability to establish requirements to protect taxpayers, oversee program participants, and monitor program compliance online as well as on paper. I sign S. 761 with the understanding, reflected in the Congressional Record statements of Senators Hollings, Wyden, and Sarbanes, and Congressman Dingell, that this Act gives State and Federal governments the authority they need to establish record retention requirements, prescribe standards and formats for filings, and issue other regulations and orders to implement the legislation necessary to prevent waste, investigate and enforce the law, operate programs effectively, and protect consumers and the public interest. As they explained, this legislation principally addresses commercial and consumer activities, not governmental activities that have already been addressed by the Government Paperwork Elimination Act.