The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) is the proposed state law that carries all manner of horrors for IT organizations, technical professionals, consumers, librarians, and so on. Since being passed by Virginia and Maryland last year, UCITA has fortunately made little headway. But with most state legislative sessions now in full swing, things are starting to heat up again.

I'm glad to report that UCITA opponents have managed to put the breathing spell to good use because we are far better organized. A new coalition called Americans for Fair Electronic Commerce Transactions (AFFECT) has been formed through the consolidation of previous efforts. By combining the energies and resources of the many interests groups that have recognized the dangers of UCITA, the coalition is better coordinated and has more professional help and funding to take on the Herculean task of educating legislators and the public about UCITA.

We'll need all the additional help we can get. As I write this, UCITA has been introduced in Arizona and Texas, and by the time you read this a few more states may have been added to the list. Among the states where AFFECT scouts have detected signs of UCITA activities are California, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington.

Texas figures to be an extremely interesting battleground. Signatories of an open letter to the Texas legislature requesting that UCITA not be introduced in the state this year included Boeing, Conoco, Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil, Lockheed, and Phillips Petroleum. With that kind of opposing lineup, particularly one featuring the petroleum industry, you might think UCITA would have no chance in Texas. But it was introduced anyway. A pro-UCITA letter signed by Compaq, Dell, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments gives you some idea of how the battle lines are drawn. (It's the first appearance of Compaq and Dell that I've seen in the UCITA fight, but it's not surprising given how easy it is to bring PC sales under UCITA's auspices.) We could be headed for quite a shoot-out.

I should make it clear that not all the states I've mentioned are likely to hold hearings and actually bring UCITA to a vote this year. Even in Arizona and Texas, AFFECT coordinators have hope that the bill will be kept in committees for study during the current legislative sessions. Nonetheless, the experiences of Virginia and Maryland have taught the lesson that the process of educating key state government officials must begin at the first sign of trouble, if not before. If the wrong people commit early to UCITA out of ignorance, it may be too late to stop a fast track to enactment.

AFFECT already has had some success just by making sure key legislators understand the controversy of UCITA. An example is the group's effort in Oklahoma, which was originally expected to be one of the first states to rubber-stamp UCITA as drafted. Once legislators began to understand the range and intensity of opposition that exists to the law in the state, however, the law stalled and for the time being appears to have lost momentum. Legislators who were inclined to push UCITA in other states have backed off, waiting to see what happens around the country.

Clearly it's a critical period in UCITA's existence, and there's a real possibility it could remain isolated to Virginia and Maryland for the foreseeable future. The longer that period continues, the more likely voters in those two states will come to recognize what their elected officials have done.

But we have to be realistic. This is politics, and we all know what politics runs on. And in that respect, this is still very much a David and Goliath battle. It's true that there are now some very large corporations supporting AFFECT, including Caterpillar, John Deere, Georgia-Pacific, International Paper, Principal Financial, Prudential, Reynolds Metal, and Walgreen. But what they will spend to fight a law that's not related to their mainstream business is nothing compared to what Microsoft and friends have spent and will continue to spend in support of a law designed to their specifications.

What can you do? Well, if your company has recognized how much UCITA could cost it in increased legal expenses and licensing hassles, you might consider it a wise investment to pay a few thousand dollars to AFFECT and join it as a full member. If you can't offer any funding but you're willing to help fight UCITA in your state, sign up to do that. Go to www.affect.ucita.com, click on Join AFFECT, and fill out the form indicating what you or your organization is willing to do. It's a brand-new site; so if you run into bugs, try again later. That's one thing AFFECT has in common with UCITA's supporters: It comes with no guarantees.

» posted by ITworld staff

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