At the beginning of its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) announced it was discharging the committee responsible for UCITA. “We have determined to focus the Conference's energies on the items related to our larger agenda and not expend any additional Conference energy or resources in having UCITA adopted,” NCCUSL President K. King Burnett was quoted in a press release issued by the organization. “Of course, we are not abandoning our interest in the subject matter. UCITA will remain in place as a resource for the American legal and political community, and for reference by the courts. At some time in the future, there will be opportunities for making contributions of law suitable for the information economy. The Conference remains interested in making these kinds of contributions, and will undoubtedly consider carefully any new opportunities that arise."

That’s good news indeed, but UCITA opponents are well aware it is by no means total victory. NCCUSL is not so much throwing in the towel as acknowledging the fact that UCITA is completely stalled, particularly because of its rejection by the American Bar Association earlier this year. But it remains on the books in Virginia and Maryland, and as I discussed a few weeks ago, it continues to cause damage directly and indirectly.

Still, this is a moment to be savored. If nothing else, it means UCITA (at least by that name) won’t be introduced in any further states. And NCCUSL’s dropping of the project will also make it easier for more states to adopt anti-UCITA bombshelter laws, as four states have already done, in order to shield their citizens from Virginia and Maryland law. And perhaps it will even help convince the citizens of those two states that their elected representatives did them a great disservice by enacting this law that is now so universally condemned.