A study on Uniform Electronic Transactions Act

미국 통일전자거래법(UETA)에 관한 고찰

Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (1999) Drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The Act allows the use of electronic records and electronic signatures in any transaction, except transactions subject to the Uniform Commercial Code. The fundamental purpose of this act is to remove perceived barriers to electronic commerce. The Act's a procedural statute. It does not mandate either electronic signatures or records, but provides a means to effectuate transactions when they are used. The primary objective is to establish the legal equivalence of electronic records and signatures with paper writings and manually-signed signatures. With regard to the general scope of the Act, the Act's coverage is inherently limited by the definition of "transaction." The Act does not apply to all writings and signatures, but only to electronic records and signatures relating to a transaction, defined as those interactions between people relating to business, commercial and governmental affairs. The exclusion of specific Articles of the Uniform Commercial Code reflects the recognition that, particularly in the case of Articles 5, 8 and revised Article 9, electronic transactions were addressed in the specific contexts of those revision processes. In the context of Articles 2 and 2A the UETA provides the vehicle for assuring that such transactions may be accomplished and effected via an electronic medium. At such time as Articles 2 and 2A are revised the extent of coverage in those Articles(Acts) may make application of this Act as a gap-filling law desirable. Similar considerations apply to the recently promulgated Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). Another fundamental premise of the Act is that it be minimalist and procedural. The general efficacy of existing law, in an electronic context, so long as biases and barriers to the medium are removed, confirms this approach. The Act defers to existing substantive law. Specific areas of deference to other law in this Act include: i) the meaning and effect of "sign" under existing law, ii) the method and manner of displaying, transmitting and formatting information in section 8, iii) rules of attribution in section 9, and iv) the law of mistake in section 10.