There has been relatively little litigation on EC issues, most of which have been procurement protests to the GAO. A few of the significant decisions are:
1. An early decision established the legitimacy of using EDI in the contracting process. The GAO held that contracts suing EDI are valid obligations of the government as long as the technology provides the same degree of assurance and certainty of contract formation as that of "paper and ink". The GAO decision held that as long as an EDI system using message authentication codes conformed to acceptable government-established standards EDI is acceptable.
2. In three cases where the solicitation required electronic quotations for small purchase, CD-ROM only or electronic format that could include CD-ROM, floppy disks or over the Internet), the GAO ruled such EDI requirements did not unduly restrict competition.
3. When a computer system problem resulted in the failure of a FACNET-sent price quote being received, the GAO sustained the contractor’s protest. Though it often takes the position that occasional negligent loss quotations does not entitle the supplier to relief, the failure to fix previously identified system failures was sufficient to sustain the protest.
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