Due to the steady increase in the use of the Internet to conduct business, the US government passed the E-SIGN or Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act in 2001. This act was put in place as a way to govern and control the use of an electronic signature. This became necessary as so many companies are now conducting all of their business online, yet still need to be able to verify the validity of any signature received over the web.
The Use of an Electronic Signature is Now Valid When Bidding on Government Contracts
For many years the only way an entity could place a bid for one of the many lucrative government contracts was to send their bid in as a printed document that was sealed, dated and then postmarked with the date and time it was delivered. Today you can send in the same bid via the Internet and your electronic signature not only verifies the validity of your bid, but confirms the date and time of submission should it come down to this to declare a winning bidder.