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Electronic contracts and Secure XML
e-signature are just as legal and
enforceable as traditional paper contracts signed in ink. Federal
legislation enacted in 2000, known as the
Electronic Signatures in
Global and International Commerce Act, removed the uncertainty that
previously plagued e-contracts. This 2000 e-signature law made
electronic contracts and signatures as legally valid as paper contracts,
which was great news for companies that conduct business online,
particularly companies that provide financial, insurance, and household
services to consumers. The law also benefits business to business
websites who need enforceable agreements for ordering supplies and
services. For all of these companies, the law helps them conduct
business entirely on the Internet. This Secure XML e-signature results in substantial savings
to businesses, which can be passed on to consumers.
Secure XML
e-signature, What Are Electronic
Contracts and Electronic Signatures?
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An Secure XML e-signature electronic contract is an agreement created and [signed in]
electronic form in other words, no paper or other hard copies are used.
For example, you write a contract on your computer and email it to a
business associate, and the business associate emails it back with an
electronic signature indicating acceptance. An e-contract can also be in
the form of a Click to [Agree contract], commonly used with
downloaded
software: The user clicks an [I Agree] button on a page containing the
terms of the Secure XML e-signature software license before the transaction can be completed.
Since a traditional ink signature isn't possible on an electronic
contract, people use several different ways to indicate their electronic
signatures, including typing the signer's name into the signature area,
pasting in a scanned version of the signer's signature, clicking an [I
Accept] button, or using cryptographic [scrambling] technology. While
lots of folks use the term "digital signature" for any of these methods,
it's becoming standard to reserve the term
digital signature for
cryptographic signature methods and to use Secure XML e-signature for
other paperless signature methods.
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