Federal Trade Commission Esign Logo
Federal Trade Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Department of Commerce
Esign Public Workshop
April 3, 2001

FTC Headquarters, Room 432, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington D.C.

This workshop is part of the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's ("NTIA") effort to gather information to report to Congress on the benefits and burdens of § 101(c)(1)(C)(ii) of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act ("ESIGN") which authorizes the use of an electronic record to send legally required information to consumers if the consumer consents or confirms consent "in a manner that reasonably demonstrates that they can access the information." Congress mandated this report under § 105(b) of ESIGN and required the submission of this study by June 30, 2001.

Through this workshop we hope to advance our understanding of the benefits and burdens to businesses and consumers resulting from the consumer consent provision of § 101(c)(1)(C)(ii). The workshop will consist of moderated round table discussions with representatives from industry, government, consumer advocate groups and other interested parties. We hope to foster discussion about best practices in obtaining electronic consent and to allow workshop participants to demonstrate their best practices, and the technologies that are available for companies to obtain consumer consent.

Technology Exhibits: Starting at 12:00p.m. and continuing until the end of the day, attendees may visit technology exhibits in Room 532.

The forum is open to the public, and there is no formal registration process for those wishing to attend.

AGENDA
8:30 - 9:00 Registration
9:00 - 9:05 Opening remarks
Jodie Bernstein, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission
9:05 - 9:30 Setting the Stage: What are the Issues?

Moderator:
Eileen Harrington, Associate Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

This session will identify the relevant issues regarding
§ 101(c)(1)(C)(ii) of ESIGN, explore the areas of consensus, controversy and disagreement, and set the stage for the rest of the day's discussion.

Panelists:
  • Margot Saunders, National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)
  • Jerry Buckley, Counsel for Electronic Financial Services Council (EFSC)
  • Benham Dayanim, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP
    •
9:30 - 10:30 Legal Issues

Moderator:
April Major, Attorney, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

A moderated roundtable discussion to explore the legal issues that face all parties when implementing the consumer consent provision found in § 101(c)(1)(C)(ii) of ESIGN.

Panelists:
#
  • Margot Saunders, National Consumer Law Center
  • Jerry Buckley, Counsel for Electronic Financial Services Council
  • Benham Dayanim, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP
  • Elizabeth Yen, Hudson Cook
  • Robert A. Wittie, Counsel for Investment Company Institute (ICI)
  • Jane Stafford, Wachovia Bank
  • Mark MacCarthy, Visa Payments Systems
  • Jeff Wood, Household Bank
    •
10:30 - 10:45 Break
10:45 - 11:45 Technology Issues

Moderator:
Fran Nielson, PhD, Senior Computer Scientist, National Institute of Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce

Technical Expert:
William Burr, Manager, Security Technologies Group, Computer Security Division, NIST, U.S. Department of Commerce

This moderated roundtable discussion will explore the technology issues and the available software and computer technologies that enable companies to employ the consumer consent provision.

Panelists:
#
  • Christopher Smithies, Selwood Research
  • Michael Laurie, Silanis Technology
  • Mark Bohannon, SIIA
  • Thomas Wells, b4bpartner
  • Virgina Gobats, NewRiver
  • James Brandt, VeriSign
  • Jane Winn, Professor of Law, SMU
  • Dr. Bruce E. Brown, iLumin
  • Thomas Greco, Digital Signature Trust
  • Margot Saunders, NCLC
11:45 - 1:00 Lunch
1:00 - 3:00 Benefits and Burdens

Moderator:
Kathy Smith, Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce

Economists:

#

  • Keith Anderson, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission

  • Lee Price, Deputy Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

This moderated roundtable discussion will focus on the benefits and burdens to consumers and businesses of ESIGN's consumer consent requirement, set forth in § 101(c)(1)(C)(ii). The workshop will also explore whether the benefits outweigh the burdens.

Panelists:
  • Mark MacCarthy, Visa Payments System
  • Michael Laurie, Silanis Technology
  • Paul Gallagher, Fidelity
  • Elizabeth Yen, Hudson Cook
  • Jane Winn, Professor of Law, SMU
  • Gail Hillebrand, Consumers Union
  • Behnam Dayanim, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP
  • Thomas Wells, b4bpartner
  • John Buchman, E*Trade Bank
  • Jeremy Newman, Selwood Research
  • Margot Saunders, NCLC
  • Wendy Weinberg, NACAA
  • Jerry Buckley, EFSC
3:00 - 3:15 Break
3:15 - 4:15 Best Practices

Moderator:
Eileen Harrington, Associate Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

This will be a moderated roundtable discussion from the standpoint of both businesses and consumers. We will also explore whether similar best practices apply to all industries or whether some are industry-specific.

Panelists:
#
  • Virginia Gobats, NewRiver
  • Gail Hillebrand, Consumers Union
  • Margot Saunders, NCLC
  • Robert A. Wittie, Counsel for ICI
  • Mark Bohannon, SIIA
  • Jeff Wood, Household Bank
  • Jane Stafford, Wachovia Bank
  • Dr. Bruce E. Brown, iLumin
  • Wendy Weinberg, NACAA
  • Paul Gallagher, Fidelity
4:15 - 4:55 Public Participation

Public attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions and offer insight on the day's dialogue.
4:55 - 5:00 Closing: What's next?
U.S. Department of Commerce