Rules Under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act for an Electronic Equivalent to a Negotiable Promissory Note

For businesses and their legal counsel, the move to electronic commerce and the elimination of paper documents present special challenges, as well as opportunities. The world of commerce has long relied on paper documents to record transactions, memorialize agreements, and effect payment. The laws regulating commerce frequently assume, or require, the existence of these paper records. In addition, the law often requires a signature in connection with a writing.1 As the use of electronic commerce and the drive to eliminate paper documentation spreads, lawmakers are being forced to rethink many of these assumptions and requirements, and adapt the law to accommodate new practices. Similarly, anyone engaging in electronic commerce must ensure, through contractual arrangements, system rules, new interpretations of existing laws, and even changes to the laws themselves, that electronic records will, when necessary, be legally