Washington\u27s Electronic Authentication Act: Eliminating Legal Uncertainties Through Default Rules

This article responds to C. Bradford Biddle’s Legislating Market Winners: Digital Signature Laws and the Electronic Commerce Marketplace. Using Washington’s Electronic Authentication Act as a model, the author rejects Biddle’s arguments against digital signature legislation. The problem of “legislating market winners” through digital signature legislation can be avoided, according to the author, by creating default background rules that can be avoided by private contract. Nevertheless, the Washington Act could be improved by amendment to strengthen consumer protection against fraudulent digital signatures and related problems of e-commerce