The consumer consent provision of a recently enacted law facilitates electronic commerce and enhances consumer confidence in online business transactions, according to a joint study conducted by the Commerce Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released today.

The provision was part of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) that Congress passed in June 2000. The act was designed to facilitate use of electronic records and signatures in interstate and foreign commerce and to remove uncertainty about the validity of contracts entered into electronically.

Congress directed the Commerce Department and the FTC to review the consumer consent provision in the ESIGN Act and report by June 30, 2001 on its benefits to e-commerce.

Under the act, businesses that are required to provide or make available information to consumers in writing may provide them with that information using electronic records only if the consumer consents in a manner that reasonably demonstrates the consumers' ability to access the electronic record.

The complete text of the report is available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/