U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

49–010 

" ! SENATE 

114TH CONGRESS

1st Session 

REPORT

2015

114–77 

Calendar No. 142 

E-WARRANTY ACT OF 2015 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND 

TRANSPORTATION 

ON

S. 1359 

JULY 7, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas ED MARKEY, Massachusetts 

DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska CORY BOOKER, New Jersey 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

DEAN HELLER, Nevada JOE MANCHIN, West Virginia 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado GARY PETERS, Michigan 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

DAVID SCHWIETERT, Staff Director 

NICK ROSSI, Deputy Staff Director 

REBECCA SEIDEL, General Counsel 

KIM LIPSKY, Democratic Staff Director 

CHRISTOPHER DAY, Democratic Deputy Staff Director 

CLINT ODOM, Democratic General Counsel 


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Calendar No. 142 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 114–77 

E-WARRANTY ACT OF 2015 

JULY 7, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. THUNE, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 1359] 

The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 

which was referred the bill (S. 1359) to allow manufacturers to 

meet warranty and labeling requirements for consumer products by 

displaying the terms of warranties on Internet websites, having 

considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment 

and recommends that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of S. 1359, the E-Warranty Act of 2015, is to modernize the warranty notice rules by allowing manufacturers to meet 

their warranty and applicable labeling requirements by making 

warranty information available online. 

BACKGROUND AND NEEDS

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) currently enforces rules 

governing the content and availability of product warranties. While 

there are no requirements that manufacturers provide warranties 

for their products, if manufacturers choose to provide warranties, 

the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) 

and the FTC warranty rules require sellers and warrantors to disclose specific terms and to make the terms available to consumers 

prior to sale (see parts 701 and 702 of title 16, Code of Federal 

Regulations). 

The FTC adopted its Disclosure of Written Consumer Product 

Warranty Terms and Conditions Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 701) (Disclosure Rule) and Pre-Sale Availability Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 702) in 


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1975. Since the 1970s, significant changes in technology and information dissemination have occurred. However, the FTC has not updated these provisions to reflect modern methods of communication. 

The Disclosure Rule contains specific requirements for written 

warranties for consumer products costing more than $15, including 

that the warranty clearly and conspicuously disclose in a single 

document in simple and readily understood language, certain information such as the identity of the party to whom the written warranty is extended, and a clear description and identification of the 

products covered by the warranty. 

The Pre-Sale Availability Rule states that for consumer products 

with written warranties and costing more than $15, sellers are required to make the text of the warranties readily available for inspection by prospective buyers. This can happen by displaying 

them in close proximity to the products or furnishing them upon 

request prior to sale. If sellers choose the latter, they must also 

place signs reasonably calculated to elicit the prospective buyers attention in the store or department, advising them of the availability of the warranties upon request. The rule further specifies 

that, for these consumer products, manufacturers must provide 

sellers with written warranty materials necessary for sellers to 

comply with the rule’s requirements. 

Manufacturers may meet the Pre-Sale Availability Rule requirements by providing the materials to the retailers in a number of 

ways: providing copies of the warranties to be placed in a binder; 

providing warranty stickers, tags, signs, or posters; or printing 

warranties on the product’s packaging. 

Under the current rules, manufacturers may not satisfy the warranty requirements by making applicable warranty information 

available only online. The FTC has interpreted the Pre-Sale Availability Rule to allow for manufacturers to provide electronic 

versions of consumer product warranties at the point of sale, written warranties that are included on CDs, DVDs, or on the internal 

drives of warranted products would qualify as being ‘‘provided 

with’’ or as ‘‘accompanying’’ the products, in compliance with the 

Pre-Sale Availability Rule. A plain reading of the rule contains no 

mention of electronic warranties satisfying its requirements. 

S. 1359, the E-Warranty Act of 2015, would modernize the warranty notice rules by allowing manufacturers to meet applicable 

warranty requirements by posting warranty information on their 

websites. It also would ensure that consumers and prospective consumers remain able to obtain copies of warranties at the point of 

sale. This accommodation would preserve the ability of consumers 

who do not have access to the Internet to receive warranty information. 

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS

The E-Warranty Act of 2015 would allow manufacturers and sellers to satisfy applicable warranty obligations by posting warranties 

online, while retaining consumers’ rights to obtain paper copies at 

the point of sale or by other means. The FTC would have one year 

to revise its rules to be in compliance with the provisions of the 

bill. 


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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

On May 14, 2015, Senator Fischer introduced S. 1359, the EWarranty Act of 2015. The bill is cosponsored by Senator Nelson. 

On May 20, 2015, in an open Executive Session, the Committee 

considered the bill. The Committee, by voice vote, ordered S. 1359 

to be reported favorably without amendment. 

ESTIMATED COSTS

In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the Congressional Budget 

Act of 1974, the Committee provides the following cost estimate, 

prepared by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 1359—E-Warranty Act of 2015 

Under current law, manufacturers of consumer products must 

provide written warranty information to consumers at the place 

where those goods are purchased. S. 1359 would allow those manufacturers to make such warranty information available on the 

Internet and remain in compliance with the law. The bill would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to revise rules to reflect 

the new notification standards. 

Based on information from the FTC, CBO estimates that implementing the rulemaking requirement in S. 1359 would not have a 

significant effect on discretionary costs. Enacting S. 1359 would not 

affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

S. 1359 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Susan Willie. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for Budget 

Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT

In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the legislation, as reported: 

NUMBER OF PERSONS COVERED

S. 1359, as reported, would not impose any new regulatory requirements on businesses. 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Enactment of this legislation is not expected to have an adverse 

impact on the Nation’s economy. 

PRIVACY

S. 1359 would not have an adverse impact on the personal privacy of individuals. 


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PAPERWORK

S. 1359 would not measurably increase paperwork requirements 

for most businesses. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no provisions 

contained in the bill, as reported, meet the definition of congressionally directed spending items under the rule. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

This section would establish the bill’s short title as the ‘‘E-Warranty Act of 2015.’’ 

Section 2. Findings 

This section would include findings that: (1) businesses and consumers prefer to have the option of receiving warranty information 

online; (2) modernizing warranty notification rules enhances the 

United States’ global competitiveness; and (3) electronic warranties 

expand consumer access to information in an environmentallyfriendly way. 

Section 3. Electronic display of terms of written warranty for consumer products 

This section would amend section 102(b) of the Magnuson-Moss 

Warranty Act, (15 U.S.C. 2302(b)), so that a manufacturer would 

have the option of meeting the warranty notification requirements 

by posting its warranty information in an accessible digital format 

on the manufacturer’s website and by making that warranty information available at the point of sale upon request. Manufacturers 

choosing to make their warranties available online would be required to provide consumers and prospective consumers with information on how to obtain and review their warranties. They could 

do so by indicating on the products themselves, their packaging, or 

in the product manuals, the Internet websites where the warranties can be viewed, and the phone numbers, mailing addresses or 

another reasonable non-Internet means that consumers may use to 

contact manufacturers to obtain copies of the warranties. The EWarranty Act would not change the rules regarding the content of 

the warranty information. 

This section also would require the FTC to revise its rules to 

comply with the requirements of the Act within 1 year of the date 

of enactment. Additionally, it would give the FTC the option of 

waiving the requirement of section 109(a) of the Magnuson-Moss 

Warranty Act, (15 U.S.C. 2309(a)), which requires the agency to 

give interested persons the opportunity for oral presentation, if it 

determines that giving interested persons that opportunity would 

interfere with the FTC’s ability to revise the rules in a timely manner. Interested persons would still be permitted to submit written 

comments. 


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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill, as 

reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in black brackets, new material is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY—FEDERAL TRADE 

COMMISSION IMPROVEMENT ACT 

[15 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.] 

SEC. 102. RULES GOVERNING CONTENTS OF WARRANTIES. 

[15 U.S.C. 2302] 

* * * * * * * 

(b) AVAILABILITY OF TERMS TO CONSUMER; MANNER AND FORM

FOR PRESENTATION AND DISPLAY OF INFORMATION; DURATION; EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR WRITTEN WARRANTY OR SERVICE CONTRACT.— 

(1)(A) The Commission shall prescribe rules requiring that 

the terms of any written warranty on a consumer product be 

made available to the consumer (or prospective consumer) prior 

to the sale of the product to him. 

(B) The Commission may prescribe rules for determining the 

manner and form in which information with respect to any 

written warranty of a consumer product shall be clearly and 

conspicuously presented or displayed so as not to mislead the 

reasonable, average consumer, when such information is contained in advertising, labeling, point-of-sale material, or other 

representations in writing. 

(2) Nothing in this title (other than paragraph (3) of this 

subsection) shall be deemed to authorize the Commission to 

prescribe the duration of written warranties given or to require 

that a consumer product or any of its components be warranted. 

(3) The Commission may prescribe rules for extending the 

period of time a written warranty or service contract is in effect to correspond with any period of time in excess of a reasonable period (not less than 10 days) during which the consumer is deprived of the use of such consumer product by reason of failure of the product to conform with the written warranty or by reason of the failure of the warrantor (or service 

contractor) to carry out such warranty (or service contract) 

within the period specified in the warranty (or service contract). 

(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the rules prescribed under this subsection shall allow for the satisfaction of 

all requirements concerning the availability of terms of a written warranty on a consumer product under this subsection by— 

(i) making available such terms in an accessible digital 

format on the Internet website of the manufacturer of the 

consumer product in a clear and conspicuous manner; and 

(ii) providing to the consumer (or prospective consumer) 

information with respect to how to obtain and review such 


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terms by indicating on the product or product packaging or 

in the product manual— 

(I) the Internet website of the manufacturer where 

such terms can be obtained and reviewed; and 

(II) the phone number of the manufacturer, the postal mailing address of the manufacturer, or another 

reasonable non-Internet based means of contacting the 

manufacturer to obtain and review such terms. 

(B) With respect to any requirement that the terms of any 

written warranty on a consumer product be made available to 

the consumer (or prospective consumer) prior to sale of the product, in a case in which a consumer product is offered for sale 

in a retail location, by catalog, or through door-to-door sales, 

subparagraph (A) shall only apply if the seller makes available 

at the location of the sale to the consumer purchasing the consumer product the terms of the warranty on the consumer product before the purchase. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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