Patrick Leahy: “While digital signature legislation at the Federal level may help encourage the development of online commercial…”

“While digital signature legislation at the Federal level may help encourage the development of online commercial transaction rules, we must be careful not to stifle the development of efficient and inexpensive digital signature services by prematurely regulating -- or granting Federal agencies unfettered authority to regulate--in this area. We must particularly avoid creating a federal system for digital signatures that will become the national i.d. card for cyberspace. The Administration in its ``Framework for Global Electronic Commerce'' got it right when it said that ``participants in the marketplace--including consumers, business, financial institutions, and on-line service providers--should define and articulate most of the rules that will govern electronic commerce.''”