What: A conference on proposed new legislation intended to shape the framework of electronic commerce in the U.S. for the next century. Titled "Intellectual Property & Contract Law in the Information Age: The Impact of Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code on the Future of Transactions in Information and Electronic Commerce," the conference addresses legislation that may reach states for approval as early as this summer.

When: April 23-25, 1998.

Where: University of California, Berkeley.

Who: Speakers include prominent industry representatives, legal scholars and practitioners.

Notes: Potential conflicts between intellectual property law — the traditional legal framework for information commerce in the U.S. — and Article 2B are substantial. Article 2B will not only validate shrink-wrap and other mass-market licenses, but its broad consequences may also impact virtually all transactions in information, including:

• Online database contracts.
• Technology transfer agreements.
• Sharing of books between public libraries.
• Sales of used books.

Conference sponsors include the UC Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, the American Law Institute, the Information Technology Association of America, the UC Berkeley School of Information Management, the UC Berkeley Fisher Center for Management & Information, the Continuing Education of the Bar of California and the Business and Law Section of the California State Bar Association.

###