States are pursuing the development of digital signature laws from different perspectives with a clear lack of common vision. Digital Signature Guidelines and the Utah Digital Signature Statute provided a starting point for other groups' work. However, technology and practices in the field of electronic commerce are constantly under development, and the law is lagging behind. The ANSI X9 standard group, of which ABA is the secretariat, is doing substantial standards work in this area. Certainty, established either by uniform state or federal laws governing federally chartered institutions is critical for e-commerce to reach its full potential.
International uniformity is an ultimate goal.
Yes, In certain applications, security requirements necessitate some manner of authenticating the information filed. In order to ensure that tax agencies can set proper policy as to authenticating the filing entity, some guidelines on electronic signatures are necessary. While formal legislation may be helpful in some states to clarify laws which conflict with the new technology, leaving the standards to administrative regulation rather than statutory codification is generally advisable. We think it's premature for the states or any other governments for that matter to legislate standards for electronic commerce. True electronic commerce is just beginning to emerge and will be built on the exponential growth of the Internet and private networks.