Legal Electronic and Digital Signatures

A copestone of United States contract law is the general application of the Statute of Frauds to contractual agreements. Emerging forms of electronic commerce and new types of contractual relationships have begun challenge the very idea of determining the four corners of a contract. Many difficulties regarding contractual relationships emerge with the rapid increase of electronic commerce, most notably determining what creates a valid signature. Traditionally, the Statute of Frauds is a collective term describing several statutory provisions that deny enforcement of certain forms of contracts unless they are reduced to writing and signed by the party to be charged. The question with this traditional idea of the Statute of Frauds is how it refers to electronic commerce in defining whether the party being charged with the contract has actually “signed” the contract for purposes of enforcement.

Different forms of legislation dealing with internet law have attempted to define and specify digital and electronic signatures for purposes of determining enforceability. Generally, there are two broad categories of signatures when dealing with electronic contracts.

1. Electronic Signatures (“E-Signatures”)
2. Digital Signatures