THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release June 30, 2000



ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
WHILE PROTECTING CONSUMERS:
THE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT
June 30, 2000

President Clinton today will sign S. 761, the "Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act." After the signing the bill in the traditional manner, the President will make brief public remarks and demonstrate the kind of new electronic signature technology that Americans will be able to use to sign legally binding contracts on-line. The Act will:

ELIMINATING LEGAL BARRIERS TO ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Today, companies may be deterred from doing business on-line because of uncertainty about whether their on-line contracts will be legally enforceable. Laws on the books sometimes require that contracts documents be written on paper and signed with pen-and-ink signatures. Too often, firms have to memorialize their transactions on paper and send hard copies back and forth for signature, slowing down the pace of business. But the new law will overcome these barriers by:

PROVIDING CONSUMER CHOICE AND EQUIVALENT CONSUMER PROTECTION

If we are to achieve the full potential of electronic commerce, American consumers need to have confidence that they have the same protections on-line that they have in the paper world.

PROTECTING TAXPAYERS AND ENFORCING THE LAWS

Today, government requirements mandate that companies sometimes keep or generate voluminous paper records, documenting their transactions. Record retention requirements serve an important public purpose - allowing agencies to monitor for program compliance, protect taxpayers from waste, fraud, and abuse, and enforce the law. In many cases, these same goals can be met using digital technologies through:

THE BENEFITS OF E-COMMERCE FOR AMERICAN BUSINESS, AMERICAN CONSUMERS, AND THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

Our Nation has benefited dramatically from the onset of the digital age.

But still there are barriers - especially legal uncertainty - to the use of technology for business-to-business and business-to-consumer commerce. This legislation will help us to achieve the full benefits of electronic commerce.

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