This issue of Bernie's Brainers is focusing on Electronic Communications and its affects on our industry. Without question, the affects have been profound. Worldwide communications now occur instantaneously through e-mail, cell phones, portable faxes and laptop computers; the works. Frankly, anyone can be reached anywhere at almost any time. As a result, the speed of a normal business transaction has accelerated to a degree unimaginable just a decade ago.

The Electronic Signature Act signed into law June 30, 2000 and effective as of October 1, 2000 was designed to continue and accelerate still further the speed of the business day. Theoretically, the need for a traditional legal signature (on paper, in the signer's own hand) was, for the purposes of an e-transaction, to be discarded for the purposes of an e-contract. Here, an electronic signature would suffice to close the deal.

An Electronic Signature is, according to the laws wording, "an electronic sound, symbol or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record." Legally speaking, this language is so broad and vague that it must have been written with an eye toward evolution, i.e. the specifics will be reached through the legal process over time. Unquestionably, precedent setting litigation will follow quickly.

Are People and Companies Using It? Yes. A quick check on the web shows dozens of companies filling the need for assistance in defining and completing individual electronic signatures.

Will It Carry the Legal Weight of a Traditional Signature? In legal terms, a signature serves four purposes:

1. EVIDENCE i.e. The individual is the signer.
2. CEREMONY i.e. calls signer's attention to legal significance of the act.
3. APPROVAL i.e. signature indicates individual's approval of the contract or check.
4. EFFICIENCY i.e. Individual (signer) has reviewed and accepted the facts and they may therefore be taken at face value. The electronic signatures act only requires these standards be met in the case of transferable record - Loans secured by real property. Otherwise, the electronic signature is De Facto legitimate once it is transmitted or otherwise used. The law makes no concrete provisions for fraud or error.

Wave of the Future or Non-Starter? Depending on which legal mind you pick, and we have picked many, this act either opens the business world up to exciting new possibilities or is, in effect, DOA, i.e., so fraught with vagueness, inconsistencies and holes that it will be litigated to a quick obsolescence. The only sure thing at this point is much legal testing through litigation.

With a Republican majority in Congress and a Republican President, the question of will we get a new bankruptcy law has been replaced with "When will we get a new bankruptcy law?" The other key question is, will it arrive in time. A recent news release indicated credit card debt has grown from $150 billion to $545 billion in the last 10 years. As the economy begins to slow and delinquencies are on the rise, the new bankruptcy law is seen as a savior for the credit card granting industry. Still, as Congress debates the new law, bankruptcies are on the rise, perhaps to beat a "tougher" bankruptcy law that is imminent. And yet, while this is happening, major players in the credit card industry are accelerating their marketing budget to add new customers at record pace. Soon these two dynamics will clash. Stay tuned to Bernie's Brainers. When the new law is passed, we will give you an update in common English.

Shopping can present a terrible dilemma, the new couple discovered. 3 pounds of potatoes and 2 pounds of eggplants cost $2.25. Or they could just buy eggplants for the same amount of money and make a casserole out of all those eggplants. But potatoes are cheaper than eggplants. How much did potatoes cost per pound?

ANSWER TO JANUARY'S - 48 Miles

A man brought a very limp dog into the veterinary clinic. The doctor pulled out his stethoscope. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, "I'm sorry, but your dog has passed away."

"What?" screamed the man. "How can you tell? You haven't done any testing on him or anything. I want another opinion!"

With that, the vet turned and left the room. In a few moments, he returned with a Labrador Retriever. The Retriever checked the poor dead dog out thoroughly with his nose. After a considerable amount of sniffing, the Retriever sadly shook his head and said, "Bark" (meaning "dead as a doornail"). Then the vet returned in a few moments with a cat, who also carefully sniffed out the poor dog on the table. The cat sadly shook his head and said, "Meow" (meaning "he's history"). He jumped off the table and ran out of the room. The veterinarian handed the man a bill for $600. The dog's owner went berserk. "$600! Just to tell me my dog is dead? This is outrageous!"

The vet shook his head sadly and explained. "If you had taken my word for it, the charge would have been $50, but with the Lab work and the cat scan..........."