Other states are not rushing into this legal thicket. UCITA has not been introduced in California or Massachusetts, both high tech centers. Illinois and New Jersey have it on hold. Iowa is even considering "bomb shelter" legislation that would make contract clauses valid under UCITA ineffective against Iowa customers.

The law's proponents have used myths to promote it in state legislatures; they say that UCITA will bring in high-tech businesses, that it is necessary to prevent software piracy, and that it will promote legal certainty. But industry experts say an educated workforce is the key to drawing high-tech businesses. Piracy is already subject to stiff civil and criminal penalties. And far from creating certainty, UCITA will increase tensions between high tech producers and customers, adding legal planning and litigation costs. Consumers will not benefit from this law: the only clear winners will be lawyers.

Jean Braucher is a law professor at the University of Arizona.