The UCITA and the UCC are the recent developments of the uniformity laws that prohibit any form of discrimination. The project gives the initial US government attempt in promoting interstate commercial uniformity. It also gives the differences between the UCITA and the article 2 of the UCC in relation to the information technology. The differences of licensing and selling are given and the drafters stand on UCITA distinctiveness.
“The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887” (Keeler, 1983, p.22) was enacted to ensure that railroads are regulated across all the states. It was enacted because it was believed that the railroads would infuse the boundaries of the states. The laws were drafted even before the inception of the computers in the society. The commercial law saw the need to open the boundaries and reduce discrimination and monopolies that would be enjoyed by some entrepreneurs.
The boundaries of the states were also known through the ACT. According to Keller (1983), the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 ensured the rates charged on shippers were reasonable and just, forbade discrimination against shippers and people, and the practice of more for short hauls than the long ones. Although it was based on the common law it forbids pooling and colluding. The UCC and the UCITA had been set during the computer age for uniformity purposes and safeguarding.
The goal and the ideologies behind the UCC and the UCITA are based on almost the same grounds of ensuring uniformity. Their enactment is in all the states and the UCITA was implemented to deal with issues of intellectual property that are partially dealt with under the UCC. The Uniform Commercial Code of Article 2 differs from UCITA in that the UCC covers commercial transactions especially the sale of tangible goods where computer material information is not covered (Grier, Keane & Gilbert, 2001).
On the other hand, the UCITA is bound to cover the computer information and transactions, licensing of software and other computer information agreements (Grier et al., 2001). In general, UCC covers tangible goods while UNICITA does not deal with tangible goods that cover the information where the rights of ownership are limited.
It also ensures that computer information products are licensed and not sold as in UCC. According to Denny, Anderson and Corroon (2000), the article 2 of the UCC that deals with sale of products is unfit and that UCITA that computer information contracts are based on licenses and the legal considerations should not be based on the UCC article 2. The UNICITA safeguards the consumers who are not taken care of under the common law and the UCC.
The legal distinction that exists between product selling and licensing is that selling involves the transfer of rights of usage and ownership from one party to another. On the other hand, licensing a product involves transfer of the usage rights but not the ownership and other rights regarding to the commodity (Ünlü, 2005).
Licensing is based on particular terms and conditions that are agreed upon between the parties involved. The binding agreement allows limited rights of usage based on the contract law (Ünlü, 2005). In most cases technology based products are licensed and not sold.
The reason why the drafters had separated propositions was to ensure that any confusion and differences because of the regulations in different states are put a bay by use of using uniform act. For instance, UCITA is regarded as one of controversial Acts given that it was formulated under the contract that is more that hundred years.
Time has changed and some of the issues discussed have changed with time. It also impedes the copyright act of US through the limitation of the first sale doctrine that allows reselling of copyrighted creative work (Ünlü, 2005) which may sound unconstitutional.
In conclusion, the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 saw the first attempts by the congress to ensure uniformity. The UCC is concerned with the selling of tangible goods while UCITA is concerned with protecting and licensing information. Sale of products involves the selling of products and buyer gets full ownership rights while the licensing ensures that limited rights of ownership are transferred under certain agreements. Technology based products like software are incensed and nit sold.
Reference List
Denny, W. R., Anderson, A, & Corroon L, L. P. (2000). Overview Of The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA). Web.
Grier, R.L., Keane, N., & Gilbert, P. A. (2001). Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act: Bringing Commercial Law into the 21st Century. Web.
Keeler, T. E. (1983). Railroads, freight, and public policy. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution.
Ünlü, V. (2005). Content protection: Economic analysis and techno-legal implementation. München: Utz.