[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 72 (Friday, April 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19976-19977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1786]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-51514; File No. SR-OPRA-2005-01]


Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing of Proposed 
Amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale 
Reports and Quotation Information To Clarify How the Requirements of 
the OPRA Plan Pertaining to Vendors Apply to Persons Who Redistribute 
OPRA Data Over the Internet

April 8, 2005.
    Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 11Aa3-2 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on March 30, 2005, the Options Price Reporting Authority 
(``OPRA'') \3\ submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission'') an amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated 
Options Last Sale Reports and Quotation Information (``Plan''). The 
proposed amendment would issue a written policy that clarifies how the 
requirements of the Plan pertaining to vendors would apply to persons 
who redistribute OPRA data over the Internet. The Commission is 
publishing this notice to solicit comments from interested persons on 
the proposed Plan amendment.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.11Aa3-2.
    \3\ OPRA is a national market system plan approved by the 
Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and Rule 11Aa3-2 
thereunder. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 17638 (March 18, 
1981), 22 S.E.C. Docket 484 (March 31, 1981).
    The Plan provides for the collection and dissemination of last 
sale and quotation information on options that are traded on the 
participant exchanges. The six participants to the Plan are the 
American Stock Exchange LLC, the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc., the 
Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc., the International Securities 
Exchange, Inc., the Pacific Exchange, Inc., and the Philadelphia 
Stock Exchange, Inc.
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I. Description and Purpose of the Amendment

    The purpose of the proposed Plan amendment is to adopt a written 
policy that would codify prior interpretations concerning how 
provisions of the Plan applicable to ``vendors'' would apply to persons 
who redistribute OPRA data by means of the Internet. In order to make 
this policy generally available to interested persons, OPRA proposes to 
publish it on its Web site, http://www.opradata.com. Because this 
policy pertains to the operation and implementation of the national 
market system facility administered by OPRA, OPRA proposes to treat the 
policy as part of the Plan and has filed it as an amendment to the Plan 
pursuant to Rule 11Aa3-2 under the Act.\4\
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    \4\ 17 CFR 240.11Aa3-2.
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    The Plan generally defines a ``vendor'' as a person who 
redistributes OPRA data (i.e., options last sale and quotation reports 
and related information) to persons outside of its own organization. 
Persons who act as vendors are required to enter into vendor agreements 
with OPRA and pay applicable access and redistribution fees. As the 
Internet has increasingly been used as a means of providing OPRA data 
to subscribers and others, questions have arisen concerning exactly who 
among the various types of service providers involved in Internet 
transmission of OPRA data would be deemed to be performing the function 
of a vendor, and thereby be subject to the requirements of the Plan 
applicable to vendors. Although OPRA has informally adopted a policy 
that addresses these issues and has responded to questions in 
accordance with that policy, OPRA has not made its policy publicly 
available in writing until now. By making this policy available in 
writing on OPRA's Web site, OPRA wishes to be able to provide useful 
information to interested persons and avoid having to respond to 
individual questions on this topic.
    The policy would include the following elements:
    (A) A person who redistributes OPRA data to other persons outside 
of its own organization would be a ``vendor'' under the Plan. This 
would include persons who utilize the Internet as the means of 
redistribution.
    (B) A person whose only function is to maintain an Internet site, 
on which there is a link or framed page through which OPRA data is 
provided by another person who is an OPRA vendor, would not itself be 
treated as a vendor, if certain additional conditions are satisfied. 
These additional conditions would be the following: (i) The person has 
no other involvement in the redistribution of OPRA data; (ii) the 
Internet site maintained by that person clearly and prominently 
identifies the vendor who provides the OPRA data through the link or 
framed page and states that such vendor is responsible for providing 
the data; and (iii) either the vendor, who is identified as providing 
the data, controls access to the data and pays applicable usage-based 
fees to OPRA, or the person, who maintains the Internet site and is not 
a vendor, is instead a ``correspondent subscriber'' who has entered 
into a Correspondent Subscriber Agreement with the vendor and who 
limits access

[[Page 19977]]

to the link or framed page and pays fees to OPRA in accordance with 
that Agreement.
    The text of the proposed policy is set forth below. Text additions 
are in italics.
* * * * *

OPRA Policy on Persons Providing Internet Access to Real Time OPRA Data

    1. A person that redistributes OPRA data ``externally''--i.e., 
outside its own organization--is a ``Vendor'' for OPRA's purposes and 
is required to execute a Vendor Agreement with OPRA and pay a 
Redistribution Fee.\1\ This is true regardless of the method used to 
redistribute OPRA data, and extends to the redistribution of OPRA data 
by means of the Internet.
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    \1\ OPRA's Usage-based Vendor Fee and Direct Access Fee may also 
apply.
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    2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 above, OPRA does not regard a person 
as a Vendor, and the person will not be required to enter into a Vendor 
Agreement or pay a Redistribution Fee, if the person does no more than 
maintain an Internet site on which there is a link or a framed page 
through which OPRA data provided by a person that is an OPRA Vendor may 
be accessed, and if each of the following additional conditions is 
satisfied:
     The person maintaining the Internet site has no 
involvement in the redistribution of OPRA data other than through a 
link or framed page on that Internet site;
     The Internet site clearly and prominently identifies the 
Vendor who provides OPRA data through the link or framed page on that 
site as the Vendor responsible for furnishing the data;
     Either:
    [cir] The Vendor who provides OPRA data through a linked site or 
framed page has control of the entitlement or enablement process for 
each person who has access to OPRA data by means of the linked site or 
framed page and pays applicable usage-based fees to OPRA in respect 
thereof; or
    [cir] The person who maintains the Internet site is a 
``Correspondent Subscriber'' as defined in OPRA's Vendor Agreement--
that is, the person has entered into and is in compliance with (i) a 
Professional Subscriber Agreement with OPRA and (ii) a Correspondent 
Subscriber Agreement with the Vendor who provides OPRA data through the 
link or framed page on the Internet site that satisfies the 
requirements of Section 7 of the Vendor's Vendor Agreement with OPRA--
and limits access to OPRA data by means of the link or framed page to 
persons with whom it has entered into a Subscriber Agreement and in 
respect of whom it pays applicable usage-based fees to OPRA.
* * * * *

II. Implementation of Plan Amendment

    The proposed amendment will be effective upon its approval by the 
Commission pursuant to Rule 11Aa3-2 of the Act.\5\
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    \5\ 17 CFR 240.11Aa3-2.
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III. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed Plan 
amendment is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any 
of the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-OPRA-2005-01 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Jonathan G. Katz, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20549-0609. All submissions should refer to File Number 
SR-OPRA-2005-01. This file number should be included on the subject 
line if e-mail is used. To help the Commission process and review your 
comments more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission 
will post all comments on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent 
amendments, all written statements with respect to the proposed plan 
amendment that are filed with the Commission, and all written 
communications relating to the proposed plan amendment between the 
Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from 
the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be 
available for inspection and copying in the Commission's Public 
Reference Section, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Copies 
of such filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the 
principal office of OPRA. All comments received will be posted without 
change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying information 
from submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to 
make available publicly. All submissions should refer to File Number 
SR-OPRA-2005-01 and should be submitted on or before May 6, 2005.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\6\
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    \6\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).
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Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-1786 Filed 4-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P