Delivering Legality on the Internet: Developing Principles for the Private Provision of Commercial Law

The development of commercial trade on the Internet has generateda demand for commitment services not met by publicly providedlaw. In this environment, privately provided means of deliveringlegality to support trade have emerged, supplying "trust" and"assurance" services through digital certificates and digitalseal programs. I survey these developments and from them generatea set of principles to guide economic analysis of privatelyprovided commercial law.