Law Commons^™

Couriers Without Luggage: Negotiable Instruments And Digital Signatures, Jane Kaufman Winn

Articles

Prior to the very recent explosion of interest in the Internet, for decades electronic commerce had been conducted on a large scale over closed networks. Since the late 1960s, billions of dollars in funds transfers have been executed over networked computer systems such as the Federal Reserve Wire Network (Fedwire), Clearing House Interbank Payment System (CHIPS), and the automated clearing house system (ACH); billions of dollars of goods have been sold over electronic data interchange networks. These closed, proprietary networks were built during the era of mainframe computer systems and are now being challenged by open networks of distributed client-server …

Open Systems, Free Markets, And Regulation Of Internet Commerce, Jane Kaufman Winn

Articles

Can commercial transactions conducted over the Internet be regulated by existing commercial law doctrines? Many promoters of Internet commerce argue that business done over open computer networks such as the Internet will require a new regulatory framework In fact, many issues raised by Internet commerce have already been considered at length in the context of electronic commerce conducted over closed computer networks, such as those used in financial markets.

One of the most hotly debated issues regarding the regulation of Internet commerce is the question of what would be the online equivalent of a signature. Some have argued that, because …

The License Is The Product: Comments On The Promise Of Article 2b For Software And Information Licensing, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

Article 2B promises to draw together contract principles for software and information licensing that, at present, are spread among various bodies of law.

This Article argues that Article 2B must affirm industry standard licensing practices in order to prove beneficial. For example, Article 2B's affirmation of industry standard mass market licensing is important for both publishers and end users. Article 2B must also provide the flexibility to accommodate new distribution and licensing models that will arise as electronic commerce matures. Any other approach would fundamentally disrupt the software and information industries.

Moreover, this Article urges the drafters of Article 2B …

Freeing The Tortious Soul Of Express Warranty Law, James J. White

Articles

I suspect that most American lawyers and law students regard express warranty as neither more nor less than a term in a contract, a term that is subject to conventional contract rules on formation, interpretation, and remedy. Assume, for example, that a buyer sends a purchase order to a seller and the purchase order specifies the delivery of 300 tons of "prime Thomas cold rolled steel." The acknowledgment also describes the goods to be sold as "prime Thomas cold rolled steel." Every American lawyer would agree that there is a contract to deliver such steel and furthermore would conclude that …