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Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

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contract exclusion or disclaimer <strong>of</strong> warranties and contractualreduction <strong>of</strong> remedies for breach. Use <strong>of</strong> standard forms andterms now pose issues about the efficacy <strong>of</strong> contract to negate thefirst sale doctrine <strong>of</strong> copyright law as well as the right under statetrade secret law and the fair use doctrine <strong>of</strong> copyright law toreverse engineer computer program object code.Moving further into the contractual realm, digital informationtechnology has introduced on-line business-to-business, consumerto-business,citizen-to-government, and government-to-citizenelectronic transactions. “Digital signature” and electronicdocument authenticity issues are the focus <strong>of</strong> state and nationallawmaking, European Community legislation and internationalmodel laws and treaties.Substantial economic interests are at stake. Making themarket safe for distribution <strong>of</strong> digital content and works isessential to development <strong>of</strong> new and evolving industries. It iscritical to the realization <strong>of</strong> benefits <strong>of</strong>fered by greater access toinformation content, functional works and entertainment productsmade possible by digital and communications technologies.Equally, legal certainty and harmonization concerningauthenticity, or risk <strong>of</strong> inauthenticity, <strong>of</strong> digital signatures anddocument contents are essential to stability and development <strong>of</strong>electronic contracting.The tensions between private and public interestscharacterize all debate on these issues, and differing perspectivesexist both within and among diverse cultures and differing legalsystems. Recognition <strong>of</strong> this was the inspiration for myorganization <strong>of</strong> the April 20, 2001 Scholarly SymposiumInformation and Electronic Commerce <strong>Law</strong>: ComparativePerspectives and the informal speakers’ and moderators’Roundtable discussion the following morning. The event featuredeight leading United States, Portuguese and Australian lawscholars. Four prominent and highly regarded information andelectronic commerce attorneys moderated the Symposiumsessions,1 and <strong>of</strong>fered substantive comments when introducingtheir session and led question and answer discussions following1. The session moderators were Jonathan Band, Washington, D.C., <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong>Morrison & Foerster L.L.P.; Wayne D. Bennett <strong>of</strong> Bingham Dana LLP in Boston,Massachusetts; Jerry Cohen from the Boston, Massachusetts, <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> Tillinghast LichtPerkins Cohen & Smith L.L.P.; and Marc S. Friedman <strong>of</strong> the Roseland, New Jersey,<strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> Goodwin Proctor LLP and President <strong>of</strong> the Computer <strong>Law</strong> Association.

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