Implementation of electronic signatures: a discussion on regulatory issues

Abstract

To address and facilitate the growth of activities in the area of e- and m-commerce, United Nations produced a document called the UNCITRAL Model Law. Article 13 of the Model Law describes the concept of 'attribution of data messages', a principal component in ensuring authenticity and reliability of an electronic message. The purpose behind such prescription is to ensure harmony among trading partners as the implementation of regulatory framework in many countries is not uniform and bound by various jurisdictional issues. While conducting transactions across borders, including state and national, trading parties should be aware of various consequences of 'transmission of electronic messages' as there may be profound implications to the parties when things go wrong due to technical problems. When organizations trade on the Internet, especially to conduct transactions at international level, the concept of electronic signatures is an integral part of transactions negotiated through a data message. However, it appears that organizations have not yet comprehended the full impact of various legislative procedures associated with the implementation of electronic signatures as the enforcement of various issues with respect to this electronic signature varies depending upon the context and situation. While the electronic signature helps to identify a person who has been involved in a transaction electronically, due to various technical issues, it is difficult to interpret who is the sender, how to authenticate the signature, how the data message is transmitted, and the validity of enforceable issues. This paper investigates aspects of United Nation's Model Law, Article 13, which deals with electronic signatures. The discussion provided includes how electronic signatures are interpreted in the context of a data message, the difficulties encountered in implementing Article 13 in specific contexts due to regulatory frameworks and potential legal consequences. The scope of this paper is currently restricted to 'discussion' only.