President Signs Online Shopper’s Confidence Act into Law
On December 29, 2010, the President signed into law S. 3386, the Restore Online Shopper’s Confidence Act (Public Law 111-345).
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According to a press release issued by S. 3386’s sponsor, Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Rockefeller (D), P.L. 111-345 will protect online shoppers by:
- Prohibiting companies from using misleading post-transaction advertisements by requiring them to clearly disclose the terms of their offers, and to obtain billing information, including full credit or debit card numbers, directly from consumers.
- Prohibiting Internet retailers and other commercial websites (“initial merchants”) from transferring a consumer’s billing information, including credit and debit card numbers, to post-transaction third party sellers.
- Requiring companies that use “negative options” on the Internet to meet certain minimum disclosure and enrollment requirements, so consumers will not end up paying recurring fees for goods and services they did not intend to purchase.
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/16/10 news, 10121620, for BP summary of House passage of S. 3386, clearing the bill for the President.)
Chairman Rockefeller’s press release available here.