    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [November 29, 1999]
    [Pages 2155-2156]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 2155]]

    Memorandum on Facilitating the Growth of Electronic Commerce
    November 29, 1999

    Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

    Subject: Facilitating the Growth of Electronic Commerce

        The rapid growth of the Internet and its increasing use throughout
    the world for electronic commerce holds great promise for American
    consumers and for the Nation. Consumers will have significantly greater
    choice and convenience and will benefit from enhanced competition for
    their businesses.
        It is essential for consumers and the health of the economy that
    government facilitate not only retail activity, which has increased
    substantially, but also the movement to the online environment of other
    categories of transactions. We must update laws and regulations
    developed before the advent of the Internet that may have the unintended
    effect of impeding business-to-business and business-to-consumer online
    transactions. Impediments may include regulatory or licensing
    requirements and technical standards and other policies that may hinder
    electronic commerce in particular goods or services. While some of these
    legal restrictions are the subject of pending legislation, other
    potential barriers are outside the scope of those legislative proposals.
        Under the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, Federal agencies are
    addressing issues regarding electronic transactions within the Federal
    Government and between the Federal Government and other parties. We
    should provide for similar consideration of laws and regulations
    governing electronic commerce in the private sectors.
        In adapting laws and regulations to the electronic environment, it
    is critical that consumers and the public at large be assured of a level
    of protection in electronic commerce equivalent to that which they now
    enjoy in more traditional forms of commerce. Any disparity in protection
    may undermine consumer confidence in electronic commerce and impede the
    growth of this important new trade medium. At the same time, we must
    recognize that different media may require different approaches and that
    public interest protections designed for the physical world may not fit
    in the electronic commerce arena. We should attempt to develop an
    equivalent level of protection, recognizing that different means may be
    necessary to accomplish that goal.
        The United States Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce
    (the Working Group) shall establish a subgroup, led by the Department of
    Commerce, to: (1) identify Federal, State, and local laws and
    regulations that impose barriers to the growth of electronic commerce,
    and (2) recommend how these laws and regulations should be revised to
    facilitate the development of electronic commerce, while ensuring that
    protection of the public interest (including consumer protection) is
    equivalent to that provided with respect to offline commerce. This
    subgroup shall carry out the responsibilities identified below on behalf
    of the Working Group, with the exception of reporting to the President.
        Within 60 days of the date of this memorandum, the Working Group
    shall invite the public to identify laws or regulations that may
    obstruct or hinder electronic commerce, including those laws and
    regulations that should be modified on a priority basis because they are
    currently inhibiting electronic commerce that is otherwise ready to take
    place. The Working Group also shall invite the public to recommend how
    governments should adapt public interest regulations to the electronic
    environment. These recommendations should discuss ways to ensure that
    public interest protections for online transactions will be equivalent
    to that now provided for offline transactions; maintain technology
    neutrality; minimize legal and regulatory barriers to electronic
    commerce; and take into account cross-border transactions that are now
    likely to occur electronically.
        The Working Group shall request each Federal agency, including
    independent regulatory agencies, to identify any provision of law
    administered by such agency, or any regulation issued by such agency,
    that may impose a barrier to electronic transactions or otherwise impede
    the conduct of commerce online or by electronic means, and to recommend
    how such laws or regulations may be revised to allow electronic commerce
    to proceed while maintaining protection of the public interest.

    [[Page 2156]]

        The Working Group shall invite representatives of State and local
    governments to identify laws and regulations at the State and local
    level that may impose a barrier to electronic transactions or otherwise
    to the conduct of commerce online or by electronic means, to discuss how
    State and local governments are revising such laws or regulations to
    facilitate electronic commerce while protecting the public interest, and
    to discuss the potential for consistent approaches to these issues.
        The Working Group shall report to the President in a timely manner
    identifying:
           (1)  laws and regulations that impose barriers to electronic
                commerce or that need to be amended to facilitate electronic
                commerce, and
           (2)  recommended steps for addressing the barriers that will
                facilitate the growth of electronic commerce and will ensure
                continued protection for consumers and the public at large.

                                                          William J. Clinton