“Maryland and Virginia are racing to become the first states in
the nation to approve new rules governing electronic commerce,
despite growing fears among legal experts that the laws could strip
away several basic consumer protections….”
“The push is the start of a national effort by a number of
leading software manufacturers to get states to make legally
binding the terms companies set on the use of their products–even
though most consumers would not know what those conditions are
until after they had spent their money and read the fine
print. Given the ease with which software can be copied or
change hands, many companies attempt to restrict how their programs
are used once they have been sold.”
“The proposed set of rules, called the Uniform Computer
Information Transactions Act (UCITA), would allow companies to
reach into a customer’s computer and “repossess” a product if the
purchaser had fallen behind on payments. And the law would permit
them to send legal notices about new restrictions by e-mail without
any proof that the e-mail had reached its destination.”