North Carolina General Statutes 66-325. Time and place of sending and receipt
(a) Unless otherwise agreed between a sender and a recipient, which in a consumer transaction must be reasonable under the circumstances, an electronic record is sent when it:
(1) Is addressed properly or otherwise directed properly to an information processing system that the recipient has designated or uses for the purpose of receiving electronic records or information of the type sent and from which the recipient is able to retrieve the electronic record;
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 66-325
- Agreement: means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their language or inferred from other circumstances and from rules, regulations, and procedures given the effect of agreements under laws otherwise applicable to a particular transaction. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- Consumer transaction: means a transaction involving a natural person with respect to or affecting primarily personal, household, or family purposes. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- Electronic record: means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Information: means data, text, images, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, or the like. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- Information processing system: means an electronic system for creating, generating, sending, receiving, storing, displaying, or processing information. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, governmental agency, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
- Transaction: means an action or set of actions occurring between two or more persons relating to the conduct of consumer, business, commercial, or governmental affairs. See North Carolina General Statutes 66-312
(2) Is in a form capable of being processed by that system; and
(3) Enters an information processing system outside the control of the sender or of a person that sent the electronic record on behalf of the sender or enters a region of the information processing system designated or used by the recipient which is under the control of the recipient.
(b) Unless otherwise agreed between a sender and a recipient, which in a consumer transaction must be reasonable under the circumstances, an electronic record is received when:
(1) It enters an information processing system that the recipient has designated or uses for the purpose of receiving electronic records or information of the type sent and from which the recipient is able to retrieve the electronic record; and
(2) It is in a form capable of being processed by that system.
(c) Subsection (b) of this section applies even if the place the information processing system is located is different from the place the electronic record is deemed to be received under subsection (d) of this section.
(d) Unless otherwise expressly provided in the electronic record or agreed between the sender and the recipient, an electronic record is deemed to be sent from the sender’s place of business and to be received at the recipient’s place of business. For purposes of this subsection, the following rules apply:
(1) If the sender or recipient has more than one place of business, the place of business of that person is the place having the closest relationship to the underlying transaction.
(2) If the sender or the recipient does not have a place of business, the place of business is the sender’s or recipient’s residence, as the case may be.
(e) An electronic record is received under subsection (b) of this section even if no individual is aware of its receipt; provided, however, in a consumer transaction, a record has not been received unless it is received by the intended recipient in a manner in which the sender has a reasonable basis to believe that the record can be opened and read by the recipient.
(f) Receipt of an electronic acknowledgment from an information processing system described in subsection (b) of this section establishes that a record was received but, by itself, does not establish that the content sent corresponds to the content received.
(g) If a person is aware that an electronic record purportedly sent under subsection (a) of this section, or purportedly received under subsection (b) of this section, was not actually sent or received, the legal effect of the sending or receipt is determined by other applicable law. Except to the extent permitted by the other law, the requirements of this subsection may not be varied by agreement. (2000-152, s. 1; 2001-295, s. 4.)