Until 1677 and the creation of the Statute of Frauds in England, all contracts could be either written or oral and yet be equally binding on the parties. After 1677, the law required certain types of contracts (such as contracts to buy or sell land) to be both made in writing and executed with the physical signatures of all of the parties involved. At any time thereafter, either party could challenge the authenticity of the physical signature of his/her own handwriting or the handwriting of the other party. Recently, with the increase of e-commerce, an electronic signature (non-physical) has become as equally binding as the physical signature with severe limitations allowed in challenging the authenticity. Has this developed out of necessity, or have we simply moved too far with the law accommodating the digital age?
