Achieving functional equivalence is not the case for electronic bills of lading in today's times and neither is the replication of the three immediate functions of the paper bill of lading. The precise need of the hour is for the eB/L to be legally and commercially effective, while simultaneously being unique and secure. A Bill of lading, is a legal document between a shipper and a carrier, and the electronic document is the digital equivalent of an ordinary B/L. In simpler terms, the eB/L is

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... e soft copy. A contention that arises alongside along with the eB/L is that of the validity and legality of the electronic signature which is used to authenticate the record. Currently, the Hague-Visby rules and its archaic framework govern the carriage of goods by sea and that doesn't involve any aspect of eB/L, neither has the Rotterdam convention received its appropriate number of ratifications to involve the Electronic Transport Record which means that there is no uniform international framework governing the eB/L.