Electronic Contracts Essay

There are several long-term impact of electronic contracting on the nation’s business and some of these are the following: First of all, since the E-sign Federal Law â€Å"legitimizes business conducted by electronic means†, this means that the nation will produce more businesses than usual (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). This is because an electronic contract saves a considerable amount of time, as well as, effort (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). Unlike in the traditional way, wherein individuals entering into a contract are obliged to meet with each other, negotiate with each other, agree with each other, etc before finally signing a document that legitimizes what they have discussed about with regards to business (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). In electronic contract, a document is sent for another party to read and agree upon, if he or she does then he or she signs it, then the other party, in case he or she agrees will also sign it (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). Electronic contract is exceedingly easy and extremely convenient that is why the number of businesses is increased greatly which leads to a flourishing economy for the nation as well (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). Second, the e-Sign Federal Law â€Å"continues the advancement of e-commerce†, which in turn, also plays a large role in the economy of the whole nation (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). It motivates individuals to transact their businesses online and make their services far more efficient by doing so (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). The fast and efficient service that e-commerce offers contribute largely in inspiring people to create a business of their own online which will not only bring in an additional income for themselves and their families but to the government as well (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). Finally, â€Å"it establishes uniformity in intrastate, interstate, & foreign commerce† which means that the hindrances and vagueness to well-organized/competent interstate â€Å"online transactions posed by different states’ laws† will be gone forever (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). This means that the flow of business transactions will be freely flowing because there will be no more differences in State laws to attend to (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). In case that other States have other laws with regards to e-commerce and electronic contracts, these will still be covered by this federal law technically referred to as â€Å"the Federal E-sign Law† (Zanger, 2000, n. p. ). Since uniformity is established through the aforementioned law, more individuals are more confident now with online transactions than before (Zanger, 2000, n. . ). What are the potential pitfalls you see with electronic contracting? An electronic contract entails an â€Å"electronic signature†, which is actually an â€Å"electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record† (California Codes Civil Code Section 1633. 1 – 1633. 17, n. d. ). The major problem here is that there are no rules or standards for electronic signatures (California Codes Civil Code Section 1633. – 1633. 17, n. d. ). There should be only one kind of technology utilized for â€Å"an electronic signature to meet the functional equivalence standard because there are no built-in security of handwritten signatures, in ink, and tangible writing† (California Codes Civil Code Section 1633. 1 – 1633. 17, n. d. ). There should be â€Å"encryptions, access controls, as well as, date stamps† in order for it not to be easily tampered with (California Codes Civil Code Section 1633. 1 – 1633. 17, n. d. ). If there are no guiding principles on what comprises electronic signatures then fraud is most likely to occur (California Codes Civil Code Section 1633. 1 – 1633. 17, n. d. ). Anybody can just sign an agreement however she/he wants it to be signed and he or she may just opt to get out of it by saying it not his or her electronic signature or he or she may just put another electronic signature that is not really associated with him or her for the purpose of being able to run away with it in case he or she needs to (California Codes Civil Code Section 1633. 1 – 1633. 17, n. d. ).