In specified circumstances, an electronic form may be used to satisfy a statutory or prescribed requirement for the use of a form. The Bill also provides that the legal effect and enforceability of a contract may not be denied just because information or a document in an electronic form was used in its formation. The Bill recognizes contracts formed as the result of specified electronic exchanges and allows for errors arising from transactions with electronic agents to be corrected. Most US states had adopted e-commerce legislation by the time that the Congress passed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act 1999, finally signed into law by Bill Clinton in June 2000, and which is effective from 1st October 2000. The motivation for a federal statute was the fact that over the previous five years the fifty states had passed an array of electronic signature and electronic commerce statutes that fall into three varying models and are authorized for varying reasons.
Some states provide that any type of electronic signature is valid.
In addition to providing three inconsistent models for approving of electronic signatures, the states provide different uses for the approved electronic signature. Certain states permit only transactions with government agencies to be accomplished through the use of electronic signatures, while others permit only certain kinds of commercial transactions to be validated. The Act is technology-neutral so that the parties entering into electronic contracts can choose the system they want to use to validate an online agreement. Many browsers contain minimal authentication features and companies are developing pen-based and other types of technologies to facilitate online contracting. In addition to the electronic signature provisions, the Act contains electronic record keeping provisions that are effective on March 1, 2001.