Economy Ministry says e-signatures legislation may be in effect July, 2001

Yesterday deputy Economy Minister Wojciech Katner announced that e-signature legislation would probably be implemented on July 1, 2001. "The enactment of the bill does not mean, however, that everybody will immediately start using the signature. We must come up with an appropriate infrastructure," said Polish Information Technology Society (PTI) deputy head Marek Milosz. Experts claim that although there are no technological obstacles to prevent the introduction of e-signatures, Polish law is not prepared for the change. "I cannot imagine that one bill can solve all the problems related to such a complex issue; there are several regulations that need to be changed," explained Milosz. The e-signature bill will regulate such vital issues as whether to treat digital documents and signatures on the same terms as hand-written paper versions. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.19)