TechLaw

Yesterday's post about a woman who unwittingly executed an electronic signature by making an on-the-record statement in a courtroom reflected my surprise that an e-signature could be made in this manner. Apparently,  creating an electronic signature via voice recording is not all that uncommon. A Ninth Circuit case from earlier this summer, Shroyer v. New Cingular Wireless Services, No. 06-55964 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2007), involved a class of consumers who

executed an electronic signature over the telephone to assent to the terms of the Agreements. [The plaintiff] selected the answer "Yes" in response to the statement "You agree to the terms as stated in the Wireless Service Agreement and terms of service."

The court found unconscionable a clause waiving class arbitration, but it doesn't appear from the opinion that the plaintiff raised the issue of whether a valid contract containing the terms of service had been created over the telephone.