One of the challenges of regulating activities conducted on the Internet is that it operates locally, nationally, and internationally, and so provides a temptation, and sometimes a need, for regulation on a local, state, national, and international basis. In the United States the undesirability of regulation on a local basis has seemed apparent, and there has so far been little international regulation affecting electronic commerce within this country, but both the federal government and the states have been sought to regulate various aspects of Internet activities. The current result is a confusing welter of legislation, and little case law, that calls out for review and rationalization.

This document, produced by the ABA IPL Section's Online Security and E-Privacy Committee, covers e-privacy and online security and focuses on three topics:

• Online transactions - issues arising in the relation between the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act and the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act or other electronic commerce legislation adopted by states. The federal government's electronic transaction authentication initiative is also discussed.
• Authentication - reliably identifying the participants in, and assuring the integrity of the records associated with, a transaction or communication of legal significance, and the related problem of recognizing knowing mutual assent to a transaction.
• Data protection - problems of data theft, identity theft, and remedies for them. This section also provides updates regarding the current status of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM).