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1 Category: Intellectual Property laws Article: Evidentiary Value Of E-Contracts Its an undisputed fact that E-Commerce has become a part of our daily life. One such justification for the popularization of E-Commerce would be immoderate technological advancement. E-Commerce, as the name suggests, is the practice of buying and selling goods and services through online consumer services on the internet. The e used before the word commerce is a shortened form of electronic. The effectiveness of E-Commerce is based on electronically made contracts known as E-Contracts. Although E-Contracts are legalized by Information Technology Act but still majority feels insecure while dealing online. The reason being lack of transparency in the terms & conditions attached to the contract and the jurisdiction in case of a dispute that may arise during the pendency of a transaction with an offshore site. What Are E-Contracts In the words of Sir William Anson, a contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more persons by which rights are acquired by one or more to acts or forbearance on the part of the other or others. E-Contract is an aid to drafting and negotiating successful contracts for consumer and business e-commerce and related services. It is designed to assist people in formulating and implementing commercial contracts policies within e-businesses. It contains model contracts for the sale of products and supply of digital products and services to both consumers and businesses. An e-contract is a contract modeled, executed and enacted by a software system. Computer programs are used to automate business processes that govern econtracts. E-contracts can be mapped to inter-related programs, which have to be specified carefully to satisfy the contract requirements. These programs do not have the capabilities to handle complex relationships between parties to an econtract An electronic or digital contract is an agreement drafted and "signed" in an electronic form. An electronic agreement can be drafted in the similar manner in which a normal hard copy agreement is drafted. For example, an agreement is drafted on your computer and was sent to a business associate via e-mail. The business associate, in turn, e-mails it back to you with an electronic signature indicating acceptance. An e-contract can also be in the form of a "Click to Agree" contract, commonly used with downloaded software: The user clicks an "I Agree" button on a page containing the terms of the software license before the transaction can be completed. Since a traditional ink signature isn't possible on an electronic contract, people use several different ways to indicate their electronic
R.B.INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
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Section 85b: Section 85B provides that the court shall presume the fact that the record in question has not been put to any kind of alteration, in case contrary has not been proved. The secure status of the record may be demanded till a specific time. The digital signature should also be presumed to have been affixed with an intention of signing and approving the electronic record. Further it has been provided that the section should not be misread so as to create any presumption relating to the integrity or authenticity of the electronic record or digital signature in question. Section 88a: The court may presume that an electronic message forwarded by the originator through an electronic mail server to the addressee to whom the message purports to be addressed corresponds with the message as fed into his computer for transmission, but the court shall not make any presumption as to the person by whom such message was sent. This section is self-explanatory as it purports to follow the basic rules of a valid hard-copy agreement. The words may presume authorize the court to use its discretionary power as regards presumption. Sections 85A and 85B contained the words shall presume which expressly excluded this discretionary power of the court. Section 90a: In case of an electronic record being five years old, if proved to be in proper custody, the court may presume that the digital signature was affixed so as to authenticate the validity of that agreement. The digital signature can also be affixed by any person authorized to do so. For the purpose of this section, electronic records are said to be in proper custody if they are in the custody of the person with whom they naturally be. An exception can be effected in case circumstances of a particular case render its origin probable. Section 85c: As far as a digital signature certificate is concerned, the court shall presume that the information listed in the certificate is true and correct. Inclusion of the words shall presume again relates to the expressed exclusion of the discretionary power of the court. Section 65b: Section 65B talks about admissibility of electronic records. It says that any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on a paper or stored/recorded/copied on optical/magnetic media produced by a computer shall be deemed to be a document and is admissible as evidence in any proceeding without further proof of the original, in case the following conditions are