Virginia is home to numerous Internet service providers, which, in several recent cases, have been asked to turn over data from their systems. Accordingly, the legislature directs the executive secretary of the Virginia Supreme Court to study the possibility of setting out new statutes or rules of evidence to govern these cases, as well as the feasibility of providing circuit court judges the authority to appoint special commissioners to handle disputes involving electronic data. The Voice of Authority Most states have also realized that they need to change their laws because of the expanding role of the Internet in delivering services to the public both in the case of their own agencies and the industries they regulate. Utah, for example, has proposed several bills intended to clear the way for electronic government services. It s largely a matter of semantics.
Many laws use language that presumes any record or form is in fact a paper document.
Various proposed amendments seek to insert language that does not preclude electronic transactions. Utah is in its third year of systematically analyzing and rewriting its laws. In each case, they should decide if an electronic transaction might be a viable alternative. The departments submit proposed changes to the research office, which then drafts legislation and passes it to the IT commission, where it begins winding its way through the legislative process. Senate Bill 11, for example, proposes new wording to more than two dozen chapters of law governing state drivers licensing.