[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3590 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3590
To require operators of electronic marketplaces to disclose the
ownership and financial arrangements of such marketplaces to market
participants, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 20, 2001
Mrs. Maloney of New York introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require operators of electronic marketplaces to disclose the
ownership and financial arrangements of such marketplaces to market
participants, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Electronic
Marketplace Ownership Disclosure Act''.
(b) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) The phenomenal economic expansion that our nation
experienced during the last decade was fueled by advances in
information technology and the development of the Internet.
(2) Today, consumers and businesses routinely participate
in new online marketplaces.
(3) Certain Internet exchanges purporting to provide
neutral marketplaces for the exchange of goods and services are
actually owned by marketplace operators with interests in the
transactions taking place on the exchanges.
(4) Certain Internet exchanges have made business
arrangements with sellers without disclosing the existence of
those arrangements to the consumers.
(5) Additional consumer protections are needed to increase
public confidence in the Internet.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) Electronic marketplace.--
(A) In general.--The term ``electronic
marketplace'' means an enterprise that--
(i) is organized to bring together by
electronic means, on both sides of a
transaction, the offers, bids, or orders of
multiple participants;
(ii) is accessible to participants from the
general public, and is not restricted to
licensed or qualified specialists;
(iii) lists products and services of such
participants, or provides links or connections
by which access to such lists may be obtained;
and
(iv) is operated as a business and collects
compensation from any of such participants as a
condition of participation.
(B) Exclusions.--Such term does not include--
(i) any securities exchange or national
securities association registered under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934;
(ii) any contract market or derivative
transaction execution facility registered under
the Commodity Exchange Act;
(iii) any marketplace that is operated for
the conduct of retail transactions by a single
vendor, even if that vendor sells or offers the
products or services of multiple providers of
such products or services; or
(iv) any marketplace on which the total
annual volume of transactions is less than
$10,000,000, or such other marketplaces as may
be excluded from such term by the regulations
prescribed under section 3 on the basis of such
factors as minimum transaction volume or size,
minimum number of transactions, or minimum
number of market participants over a designated
period of time, or other relevant factors.
(C) Open to public.--A marketplace shall not be
considered to be restricted to licensed or qualified
specialists under subparagraph (A)(ii) merely because
such marketplace requires participants from the general
public to register and to disclose identifying or
financial information prior to participating.
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(3) Affiliate.--The term ``affiliate'' means any company
that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is
under common control with another company.
SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC MARKETPLACE DISCLOSURE REGULATIONS.
(a) Disclosure Required.--The Commission shall prescribe rules in
accordance with this section to prohibit unfair and deceptive acts and
practices in the operation of an electronic marketplace by requiring
the operator of such market to disclose the following:
(1) Ownership disclosures.--The operator of an electronic
marketplace shall disclose--
(A) the identity of any affiliate of such
marketplace; and
(B) contact information, or a website link, from
which a marketplace participant may obtain additional
information about such affiliates.
(2) Disclosure of financial arrangements business
arrangements with market participants.--The operator of an
electronic marketplace shall disclose--
(A) the usual or customary financial arrangements
under which the largest portion of marketplace
participants are permitted to participate;
(B) any unusual or special financial arrangements
under which a smaller number of marketplace
participants are accorded special privileges or other
benefits in their marketplace participation; and
(C) the identity of any persons or entities with
which the operator has an arrangement described in
subparagraph (B).
(b) Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure.--
(1) Required disclosures.--The regulation prescribed under
this section shall require that the disclosures required by
subsection (a)--
(A) be clear and conspicuous to electronic
marketplace participants;
(B) to the extent possible, be stated in simple and
uncomplicated terms; and
(C) be readily accessible to the public through the
Internet.
(2) Exemptions and limitations on disclosures.--The
regulations prescribed under this section--
(A) shall require that the disclosures be updated
at least quarterly; and
(B) shall not require the posting or disclosure of
the actual contracts with market participants.
(c) Regulatory Authority.--
(1) Rulemaking.--The Commission shall prescribe such
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of
this Act.
(2) Procedures and deadline.--Such regulations shall be
prescribed in accordance with applicable requirements of title
5, United States Code, and shall be issued in final form not
later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.
This Act and the regulations prescribed thereunder shall be
enforced by Commission under the Federal Trade Commission Act.
<all>