Users, vendors face off over UCITA law in Texas
UCITA
3/10/2001; 12:01:45 PM

'A TITANIC STRUGGLE over the proposed new Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act -- one that pits large corporate users against a group of major technology vendors -- is under way in Texas and could become a key showdown for the controversial software licensing measure.

'The legislation, known informally as UCITA, was approved relatively easily last year in two states: Virginia and Maryland. But things are different in Texas, where opponents are moving aggressively to prevent the state legislature from passing the measure.

'The opposition has "definitely caught on," said Val Perkins, an attorney and lobbyist for the Texas Business Law Foundation, which is the lobbying arm of the State Bar of Texas, in Austin, Texas. The foundation pushed for the recent introduction of UCITA in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate. "Long before the bill was filed, members in both houses had already received a barrage of e-mails and letters expressing opposition," Perkins said.'