Thread

Tell HN: Claude Code just accepted and signed a contract for me. Without asking

51 points · 98 comments · franze

voidUpdate · 1790067869 · focus · HN ↗
If a contract is automatically signed by an agent on your behalf, is it legally binding?
1. AlanYx · 1790069304 · focus · HN ↗
  Generally, yes. There is a lot of case law on various types of software automated contracting (robotic process automation, automated securities transactions, etc.). Exceptions are generally where the other party had knowledge or should have known that the agent didn't have legal authority on behalf of the party it purports to bind.
  1. spwa4 · 1790069484 · focus · HN ↗
    However, none of that case law will accept a system signing a contract without verifying intent.
    In that case, the party that did the signing is on the hook for the contract, and the person in whose name it was signed is not.
    AlanYx · 1790069911 · focus · HN ↗
    Sorry, what are you referring to by "verifying intent"? With narrow exceptions (wills, trusts, etc.), there's generally no requirement for a party to a contract to verify the mental state (if that is what you mean by intent) of the other party. There has to be some formal indication of intent to enter into a contract, but this is not what ordinary people think of by "intent", and it can be as simple as typing a name, clicking an approval button, or deploying a software tool to do something similar.
    spwa4 · 1790120927 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract
    > ... there's generally no requirement for a party to a contract to verify the mental state (if that is what you mean by intent) of the other party ...
    That's the ONLY requirement of a contract. There are NO other requirements in general. There does NOT have to be any indication beyond the intent to contract (e.g. payment of the first part of the price of a product, clearly indicating what you're paying for in words to a salesman, enters you into an enforceable contract to buy the thing even if you haven't signed anything yet)
    And what Anthropic did here was enter someone else's name into a contract WITHOUT the intent of that person to enter in the contract being established. That they did not sign in their own name, but rather in the name of one of their customers changes things substantially.
  2. cyberge99 · 1790088457 · focus · HN ↗
    This is exactly why I built username.md We cryptographically prove identity and authorization grants.
    Granted, it wouldn’t have helped in OP’s situation because the agent was the user by proxy.
    I mention it toward your latter exemption.
    rearclabs · 1790376084 · focus · HN ↗
    [dead]

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