“One of the basic principles of propaganda is that if you
repeat something often enough, people will eventually believe the
most outrageous canard to be true. Thus it is that the Uniform
Computer Information Transaction Act’s (UCITA’s) proponents have
adopted “a vote against UCITA is a vote against e-commerce” as
their mantra in pushing the proposed law through state
legislatures.“
“The truth is quite the opposite, of course. UCITA poses some
grave perils for the future of electronic commerce. Commentators —
ranging from a member of the UCITA drafting committee and a group
of state attorneys general to associations representing technical
and IT professionals — have frequently said UCITA will make the
Internet a scary place for customers to do business.”
“Nonetheless, at the recent prelegislative hearings in Virginia,
it was clear that proponents of the bill have adopted a strategy of
positioning UCITA primarily as an e-commerce bill; and it’s a
strategy that, so far at least, seems to be working in Virginia.
(As feared, the advisory committee considering UCITA for the
Virginia Joint Commission on Technology and Science approved the
bill to continue along what could be a very fast track toward
enactment.)…”