(IDG) -- Gov. Tom Ridge last week signed the Electronic Transactions Act, making Pennsylvania the first state to enact the recommended version of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which gives electronic signatures the same legality as those on paper.

"In the new digital economy, where complicated transactions can be consummated in seconds, our legal system no longer can reserve legal standing only for pen-and-paper contracts shuttled through the mail," Ridge said .

The Pennsylvania act, S.B. 555, unanimously passed both chambers of the state legislature and is modeled after the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which was prepared in July by the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws.

The UETA says that a record, contract or signature may not be denied its legal status due to the fact that it's in an electronic form, and if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature can satisfy that requirement.

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