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Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) 1999

The ESIGN Act (The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) 2000), as mentioned in section 104, “supersedes any requirement by a Federal regulatory agency, self-regulatory organization, or State regulatory agency” that requires “specified standards or formats”.

Many States have enacted more recent laws governing electronic signatures, even adopted The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) which was also proposed by NCCUSL . For State specific laws please go to my E-SIGN laws page.

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) was proposed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) and since then many States have adopted it into their own laws. It provides guidelines for modern commercial transactions and make the laws uniform among various jurisdictions. The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws has worked for the uniformity of state laws since 1892. It is a non-profit unincorporated association, comprised of state commissions on uniform laws from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Information regarding The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), along with a list of the states that have adopted the UCC, can be found at the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) website.

UCC Article 1 Part 2 § 1-201 under General Definitions

(39) "Signed" includes any symbol executed or adopted by a party with present intention to authenticate a writing.
(46) "Written" or "writing" includes printing, typewriting or any other intentional reduction to tangible form.

This "tangiable form" does not require ink and paper. Over 100 years ago, people were using Morse code and the telegraph to electronically accept contracts. An early validation of this form of electronic signature came from the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 1869 and later in regards to faxes and even audio recordings.

Article 2 Part 2 § 2-201. Formal Requirements; Statute of Frauds.

(1) ... is not enforceable by way of action or defense unless there is some writing sufficient to indicate that a contract for sale has been made between the parties and signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought or by his authorized agent or broker.

As pointed out above, an electronic signature does meet the defininition of "writing", as the electronic file can be printed at any time to produce a "tangible form".