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14 Int'l Trade & Bus. L. Rev. 386 (2011)
Uniform Law of Electronic Commerce in Private International Law: Where Have We Been and Where are We Going

handle is hein.journals/itbla14 and id is 394 raw text is: UNIFORM LAW OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE IN PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW: WHERE HAVE WE BEEN AND WHERE ARE WE GOING? HENRY GABRIEL* Abstract Electronic Commerce - International Commercial Law - Private International Law - United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications - UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce. This article addresses recent and proposed initiatives in the application of electronic commerce in international commercial law. The article examines the success of current law in the area and discuses the likely effect of proposed new law of electronic commerce in international commercial law. I INTRODUCTION Several years ago, I testified before the Louisiana State Legislature for the adoption of the American Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.' This particular piece of legislation, which has been adopted by Louisiana and 48 of the other 50 American states, is nothing particularly special in the panoply of electronic commerce legislation. As with most contemporary electronic commerce legislation, it simply provides for legal transactions about the use of electronic media in place of traditional paper. Significantly, in this event less than ten years ago, various legislators asked me a series of questions. They were concerned about the ability to retain the records and the information the records contained. I patiently explained that the electronic databases were more secure and more likely to survive the ravages of time than were the pieces of paper that over the years had been lost to fires and insects. I explained that we had considered fraud and mistake; two concerns that had not been invented by the Internet. Finally, no; their grandmother would not have to learn how to use a computer to pay her water bill. These concerns would not be expressed today. We are comfortable with electronic transactions, both commercial and consumer, and the legal rules that underpin most basic electronic transactions no longer worry us. Nevertheless, lawyers and legislators were worried. The response was typical of the law whenever there is any new social phenomenon: regulation was forthcoming. Certainly, there were a slew of new laws from most developed jurisdictions, but what I want to focus on in this paper is the legal response to electronic commerce in the realm of international commercial law. The legal problems raised by electronic commerce are certainly not new. The process of Henry Gabriel, Professor of Law, Elon University. This article was originally presented at the International Workshop of Trans Border Commercial Law, The University of South Africa on 19 October 2009. Uniform Electronic Transactions Act 7A ULA 211 (2002).

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