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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5620

To require operators of electronic marketplaces to disclose the ownership

and management of such marketplaces to market participants, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 1, 2000

Mrs. MALONEY of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To require operators of electronic marketplaces to disclose

the ownership and management of such marketplaces

to market participants, 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 ‘‘Electronic Marketplace

5 Ownership Disclosure Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION REGULATIONS.

7 (a) DISCLOSURE REQUIRED.—The Commission shall

8 prescribe rules in accordance with this section to prohibit

9 unfair and deceptive acts and practices in the operation
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1 of an electronic marketplace by requiring the operator of

2 such market to disclose—

3 (1) the identity of—

4 (A) the entities that have a controlling eq5 uity stake in such marketplaces;

6 (B) the corporate parents of any subsidi7 aries or affiliates with a controlling equity stake

8 in such marketplaces; and

9 (C) the names of the directors and officers

10 of each such entity, parent, subsidiary, or affil11 iate;

12 (2) the extent to which the controlling equity

13 holders, or any subsidiary or affiliate, is or intends

14 to become a trading participant in such a market15 place; and

16 (3) the percentage of the marketplace’s oper17 ating expenses and overhead that are paid by the

18 controlling equity stakeholder.

19 (b) RULEMAKING.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pre21 scribe the rules under subsection (a) within 270

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act. Such

23 rules shall be prescribed in accordance with section

24 553 of title 5, United States Code.
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1 (2) ACCESS VIA THE INTERNET.—The rules

2 prescribed by the Commission under subsection (a)

3 shall require that the information required to be dis4 closed under such subsection be readily accessible to

5 the public through the Internet.

6 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Any violation of any rule pre7 scribed under subsection (a) shall be treated as a violation

8 of a rule respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices

9 under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15

10 U.S.C. 45). Notwithstanding section 5(a)(2) of such Act

11 (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)), communications common carriers

12 shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission for

13 purposes of this Act.

14 (d) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—The Commis15 sion shall prevent any person from violating a rule of the

16 Commission under this section in the same manner, by

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

18 and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions

19 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et

20 seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.

21 Any person who violates such rule shall be subject to the

22 penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities

23 provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act in the

24 same manner, by the same means, and with the same ju25 risdiction, power, and duties as though all applicable terms
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1 and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were

2 incorporated into and made a part of this Act.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this Act:

5 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

6 means the Federal Trade Commission.

7 (2) ELECTRONIC MARKETPLACE.—The term

8 ‘‘electronic marketplace’’ means an entity or group

9 of entities using electronic means to trade goods or

10 services, including online Internet exchanges and

11 electronic communications networks (‘‘ECN’s’’).

12 (3) INTERNET EXCHANGE.—The term ‘‘Inter13 net exchange’’ means an electronic marketplace con14 ducted over the combination of computer facilities

15 and electromagnetic transmission media, and related

16 equipment and software, comprising the inter17 connected worldwide network of computer networks

18 that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/

19 Internet Protocol or any successor protocol to trans20 mit information, commonly known as the ‘‘Internet’’.

21 (4) ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS NET22 WORKS.—The term ‘‘electronic communications net23 works (‘‘ECN’s’’) means computerized systems that

24 automatically match orders between buyers and sell25 ers.
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1 (5) SUBSIDIARY OR AFFILIATE.—The term

2 ‘‘subsidiary or affiliate’’ means any company that

3 controls, is controlled by, or is under common con4 trol with another company.

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