I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2487 

To direct the Federal Trade Commission to promulgate rules requiring an 

Internet merchant to disclose the use of personal information in establishing or changing a price, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2013 

Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Federal Trade Commission to promulgate rules 

requiring an Internet merchant to disclose the use of 

personal information in establishing or changing a price, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Shoppers 

5 Honest Online Pricing Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘E–SHOP 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT FOR INTERNET MER2 CHANTS. 

3 (a) RULEMAKING.—The Federal Trade Commission 

4 shall, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, promulgate rules under section 553 of title 

6 5, United States Code, requiring an Internet merchant to 

7 disclose to each consumer, prior to the final purchase of 

8 any good or service, the use of personal information in 

9 establishing or changing a price. 

10 (b) CONTENT.—The rules promulgated by the Com11 mission under subsection (a) shall— 

12 (1) require, at a minimum, an Internet mer13 chant to clearly and prominently disclose to a con14 sumer prior to the final purchase of a good or serv15 ice the use of personal information in establishing or 

16 changing a price; and 

17 (2) provide an Internet merchant procedures 

18 for complying with the requirement under paragraph 

19 (1). 

20 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—The Commission shall provide for 

21 specific exceptions to the rules promulgated under sub22 section (a) when a consumer should reasonably expect the 

23 price to be altered based on the personal information of 

24 such consumer, including but not limited to for the cal25 culation of a shipping charge and for a financial service 


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1 for which personal information is customarily used to for2 mulate a price. 

3 (d) INTERNET MERCHANTS SUBJECT TO DISCLO4 SURE REQUIREMENT.—The rules promulgated under sub5 section (a) shall only apply to an Internet merchant that 

6 has a total annual gross revenue of more than $1,000,000, 

7 and such amount shall be indexed for inflation every 5 

8 years by the Commission to reflect the change in the Con9 sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by 

10 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 

11 Labor. 

12 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—A violation of a rule promul13 gated under subsection (a) shall be treated as a violation 

14 of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice 

15 prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 

16 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Commis17 sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the 

18 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 

19 duties, as though all applicable terms and provisions of 

20 the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 

21 were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. 

22 (f) SAVINGS PROVISION.—No provision of this Act 

23 shall be construed as limiting or superseding any authority 

24 of the Federal Trade Commission under the Federal 

25 Trade Commission Act or any other law. 


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1 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

2 (1) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 1101 of the Inter4 net Tax Freedom Act (47 U.S.C. 151 note). 

5 (2) INTERNET MERCHANT.—The term ‘‘Inter6 net merchant’’ means a person that sells or offers to 

7 sell a good or service by way of an Internet trans8 action. 

9 (3) INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS.—The term 

10 ‘‘Internet Protocol address’’ means the numerical 

11 label assigned to a particular computer or other de12 vice that accesses the Internet. 

13 (4) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘per14 sonal information’’ includes an individual’s Internet 

15 browsing history, device type and manufacturer, op16 erating system, and Internet Protocol address. 

Æ 


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