[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3431 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3431
To require online marketplaces to disclose certain verified information
regarding high-volume third party sellers of consumer products to
inform consumers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 10, 2020
Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require online marketplaces to disclose certain verified information
regarding high-volume third party sellers of consumer products to
inform consumers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Integrity, Notification, and
Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act'' or the
``INFORM Consumers Act''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION BY ONLINE MARKETPLACES TO INFORM
CONSUMERS.
(a) Verification Required.--Any online marketplace shall verify, on
an annual basis, the identity of any high-volume third party seller on
the online marketplace by requiring the high-volume third party seller
to provide, on at least an annual basis, the following information:
(1) Verified bank account information.
(2) A government-issued photo identification for an
individual representing the high-volume third party seller.
(3) A government-issued record verifying the individual or
business contact information.
(4) A business tax identification number.
(b) Information Required.--
(1) In general.--Any online marketplace shall require a
high-volume third party seller on the online marketplace to
provide, and shall disclose to consumers in a conspicuous
manner on the product listing or through a conspicuously placed
link on the product listing, the following information:
(A) Subject to paragraph (2), the identity of the
high-volume third party seller which shall include--
(i) the full name of the seller;
(ii) the full business address of the
seller;
(iii) whether the seller engages in the
manufacturing, importing, retail, or reselling
of consumer products; and
(iv) contact information for the seller,
including a phone number and working email
address.
(B) Contact information that allows for reporting
of suspicious marketplace activity to the online
marketplace and a message encouraging individuals
seeking goods for purchase to report suspicious
activity to the online marketplace.
(C) Any other information that the Commission
determines to be necessary to address circumvention or
evasion of the requirements of this paragraph, provided
that the additional information is limited to what is
necessary to address such circumvention or evasion.
(2) Exception.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), upon
the request of a high-volume third party seller, an
online marketplace may provide for partial disclosure
of the identity information required under paragraph
(1)(A) in the following situations:
(i) If the high-volume third party seller
demonstrates to the online marketplace that the
seller does not have a business address and
only has a personal street address, the online
marketplace may direct the high-volume third-
party seller to disclose only the country and,
if applicable, the State in which the high-
volume third-party seller resides on the
product listing, and may inform consumers that
there is no business address available for the
seller and that consumer inquiries should be
submitted to the seller's email address.
(ii) If a high-volume third party seller
demonstrates to the online marketplace that the
seller does not have a phone number other than
a personal phone number, the online marketplace
may inform consumers that there is no phone
number available for the seller and that
consumer inquiries should be submitted to the
seller's email address.
(B) Limitation on exception.--If an online
marketplace becomes aware that a high-volume third
party seller has made a false representation to the
online marketplace in order to justify the provision of
a partial disclosure under subparagraph (A) or that a
high-volume third party seller who has requested and
received a provision for a partial disclosure under
subparagraph (A) has not provided responsive answers
within a reasonable timeframe to consumer inquiries
submitted to the seller's email address, the online
marketplace shall withdraw its provision for partial
disclosure and require the full disclosure of the high-
volume third party seller's identity information
required under paragraph (1)(A) upon three business
days' notice to the high-volume third party seller.
(c) Fulfillment or Shipment by Different Party Than Seller.--In
addition to the requirements of subsection (b), an online marketplace
that warehouses, distributes, or otherwise fulfills a consumer product
order shall disclose to the consumer the identification of any high-
volume third party seller supplying the consumer product if different
than the seller listed on the product listing page.
(d) Enforcement.--
(1) Unfair and deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
subsection (a), (b), or (c) shall be treated as a violation of
a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice
prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
(2) Powers of the commission.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall enforce this
Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the
same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all
applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated
into and made a part of this Act.
(B) Privileges and immunities.--Any person that
violates subsection (a), (b), or (c) shall be subject
to the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and
immunities, provided in the Federal Trade Commission
Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
(3) Regulations.--The Federal Trade Commission may
promulgate regulations under section 553 of title 5, United
States Code, as necessary with respect to collecting and
verifying information under this section.
(4) Authority preserved.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any
other provision of law.
(e) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Consumer product.--The term ``consumer product'' means
any tangible personal property which is distributed in commerce
and which is normally used for personal, family, or household
purposes (including any such property intended to be attached
to or installed in any real property without regard to whether
it is so attached or installed).
(3) High-volume third party seller.--The term ``high-volume
third party seller'' means a user of an online marketplace who
is a third party seller and who, in any continuous 12-month
period during the previous 24 months, has entered into 200 or
more discrete sales or transactions of new or unused consumer
products resulting in the accumulation of an aggregate total of
$5,000 or more in gross revenues.
(4) Online marketplace.--The term ``online marketplace''
means any electronically based or accessed platform that--
(A) includes features that allow for, facilitate,
or enable third party sellers to engage in the sale,
purchase, payment, storage, shipping, or delivery of a
consumer product in the United States; and
(B) hosts one or more third party sellers.
(5) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means a person who sells,
offers to sell, or contracts to sell a consumer product through
an online marketplace.
(6) Third party seller.--
(A) In general.--The term ``third party seller''
means any seller, independent of an operator,
facilitator, or owner of an online marketplace, who
sells, offers to sell, or contracts to sell a consumer
product in the United States through an online
marketplace.
(B) Exclusion.--The term ``third party seller''
does not include a seller who--
(i) is a business entity that has made
available to the general public the entity's
name, business address, and working contact
information;
(ii) has an ongoing contractual
relationship with the owner of the online
marketplace to provide for the manufacture,
distribution, wholesaling, or fulfillment of
shipments of consumer products; and
(iii) has provided to the owner of the
online marketplace identifying information, as
described in subsection (a), that has been
verified by the owner.
(7) Verify.--The term ``verify'' means to confirm a
marketplace seller's personal identifiable information by the
use of an approved third party identity verification system
that has the capability to confirm a seller's name, email
address, physical address, and phone number, or through the use
of a combination of two-factor authentication, public records
search, and the presentation of a government-issued
identification.
SEC. 3. OTHER AUTHORITIES.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect
any other Federal authority, rule, regulation, or standard that applies
to consumer products, including the provisions of section 230 of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) as such provisions apply to
an online marketplace.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
<all>