[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 2, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46394-46395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23219]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice No. 2597]


Advisory Committee on Private International Law; Meeting of Study 
Group on Electronic Commerce

    The Department of State's Advisory Committee Study Group on 
Electronic Commerce will hold its next meeting Thursday, September 18 
in Washington, DC from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is 
to review legal issues and possible international guidelines, model 
national laws or other international legal initiatives on electronic 
signatures, including digital signature systems, that could be 
developed by international organizations.
    The Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled immediately prior to 
meetings of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State 
Laws (NCCUSL) new Drafting Group on a proposed uniform electronic

[[Page 46395]]

transactions act, which is considering a variety of legal issues for 
possible inclusion in uniform state laws. The NCCUSL Drafting Group 
will meet in Arlington, Virginia September 19-21; information on that 
meeting can be obtained as indicated below.
    The State Department Advisory Committee meeting will review issues 
that may arise at meetings of the United Nations Commission on 
International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and possibly at other bodies 
relating to digital and other forms of electronic signatures. For this 
purpose meeting participants or commentators may wish to express views 
on the report of the UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce's 
first inter-governmental meeting on digital signatures, U.N. Doc. A/
CN.9/437, March 12, 1997, which is available from outlets for United 
Nations documents or directly from the State Department's Office of 
Legal Adviser at contact numbers set out below.
    Issues that may be reviewed by the Advisory Committee include, but 
are not limited to, whether it is preferable to encourage international 
bodies to examine all forms of electronic signatures, or concentrate on 
digital signature systems; whether national or international legal 
norms should encompass both regulated/licensed systems and unregulated 
private sector systems; whether rules for digital systems should 
encompass rules for commercial transactions, and if so, what types of 
rules; whether rules on risk allocation, attribution and reliance are 
critical; whether third party assurance providers, such as certifying 
authorities, should have to meet minimum levels of assurance; what role 
information security standards should play in this process; whether 
rules are needed on incorporation by reference of systems rules or 
other underlying standards; what types of rules for cross-certification 
between different countries are feasible; whether agreement should be 
sought on underlying rules for accreditation, and if so, in what 
international bodies; and other related issues.
    Related developments in this field will be reviewed as appropriate, 
including those of the National Conference of Commissioners and the 
American Bar Association, as well as State and Federal initiatives, 
including those under the auspices of the Commerce Department, the 
Postal system, and others. The relationship between electronic 
signature systems and preliminary work on international electronic 
registries for commercial finance interests will also be examined, 
depending on time availability.
    Participants may wish to review the recently completed UNCITRAL 
Model Law on Electronic Commerce, available with a Guide to Enactment 
from U.N. document outlets as Doc. V.97-22269, May 1997, or from the 
Office of the Legal Adviser, which covers the legal effect and validity 
of computer messages in commercial transactions; functional equivalents 
of signatures, writings, etc.; attribution of messages; time and place 
where communications are deemed to have taken place, and other matters.
    The meeting of the Advisory Committee Study Group is open to the 
public up to the capacity of the meeting room, and will be held at the 
Department of State in Conference Room 5951. Participants should use 
the 21st Street entrance between C and D streets, NW. Since access to 
the building is controlled, persons who wish to attend are requested to 
provide their name, affiliation, address, telephone, date of birth and 
social security no. by Monday, September 15.
    To provide attendance information, please contact the Office of the 
Legal adviser (L/PIL), Department of State, Suite 355 South Building, 
2430 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037-2800, fax (202) 776-8482 or 
telephone (202) 776-8420, attention Rosalia Gonzales. For additional 
information or for documents requests, contact Harold Burman at the 
Office indicated above or Professor Amelia Boss at Temple University, 
(215) 204-8947, fax 204-1185, or at [email protected]. Members of the 
public who cannot attend are welcome to comment in writing on this 
topic or the referenced documents, including any recommendations for 
possible U.S. positions to be put forward at international meetings on 
electronic signatures.
    Persons who wish more information on meetings on the proposed 
Electronic Transactions Act should contact the Chair, Professor 
Patricia Brumfield Fry of the University of North Dakota Law School at 
(701) 777-2223, fax (701) 777-2217, or by E-mail to 
[email protected] or contact the offices of the Uniform 
Law Commissioners at (312) 915-0195, fax 312-0187.
Harold S. Burman,
Advisory Committee Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 97-23219 Filed 8-29-97; 8:45 am]
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