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By Felicity Ussher, 30 April 1999 17:38

NEWS The UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced a timetable for the controversial Electronic Commerce Bill. The DTI hopes to gain Royal approval by spring 2000, according to civil servant Nigel Hickson, who issued the statement at this week's InfoSecurity 99 exhibition in London. The DTI will introduce the Bill into the Houses of Parliament in May or June. Hickson said that over 250 organisations have given feedback on the proposed bill. "The main issues were the keys of innocent parties, licensing and the rebuttable presumption of signatures," he told delegates at the conference. Rebuttable presumption is a legal term, referring to the burden of proof in court, if a financial transaction is thought to be based upon a forged signature. It is currently up to banks to prove their case, but the ecommerce consultation paper would shift this responsibility to the consumer. One expert on public key cryptography estimates there is a 70 to 80 per cent chance that rebuttable presumptions will be dropped from the upcoming legislation. "I'm basing this on my assessment of how likely the DTI is to listen to public feedback," he told Silicon.com.