U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

29–010 

" ! SENATE 

112TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2012

112–248 

Calendar No. 479 

A BILL TO EXTEND THE UNDERTAKING 

SPAM, SPYWARE, AND FRAUD 

ENFORCEMENT WITH ENFORCERS BEYOND 

BORDERS ACT OF 2006, 

AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND 

TRANSPORTATION 

ON

S. 3410 

DECEMBER 5, 2012.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

MARK WARNER, Virginia 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas 

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine 

JIM DEMINT, South Carolina 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

DEAN HELLER, Nevada 

ELLEN DONESKI, Staff Director 

JAMES REID, Deputy Staff Director 

JOHN WILLIAMS, General Counsel 

RICHARD RUSSELL, Republican Staff Director 

DAVID QUINALTY, Republican Deputy Staff Director 

REBECCA SEIDEL, Republican General Counsel 


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Calendar No. 479 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 112–248 

A BILL TO EXTEND THE UNDERTAKING SPAM, SPYWARE, 

AND FRAUD ENFORCEMENT WITH ENFORCERS BEYOND 

BORDERS ACT OF 2006, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

DECEMBER 5, 2012.—Ordered to be printed 

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

Transportation, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 3410] 

The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 

which was referred the bill (S. 3410) to extend the Undertaking 

Spam, Spyware, And Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond 

Borders Act of 2006, and for other purposes, having considered the 

same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of S. 3410, a bill to extend the Undertaking Spam, 

Spyware, And Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders 

Act of 2006 (known as the ‘‘U.S. SAFE WEB Act of 2006’’ or ‘‘SAFE 

WEB’’), is to extend the authority and provisions of the U.S. SAFE 

WEB Act of 2006 for seven additional years. 

BACKGROUND AND NEEDS

In December 2006, Congress passed the U.S. SAFE WEB Act of 

2006, which provides the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with 

enforcement tools that allow the Commission to pursue fraud perpetrated by actors outside of the United States. In so doing, SAFE 

WEB enhances the FTC’s authority to deal with cross-border fraud 

in four key ways: 

• Information Sharing.—SAFE WEB authorizes the FTC to 

reciprocally exchange confidential information with foreign law 

enforcement to aid foreign and domestic investigations. 


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• Investigative Assistance.—SAFE WEB permits the FTC to 

provide investigative assistance to and conduct discovery for 

foreign law enforcement in appropriate cases which in turn, allows the FTC to receive similar foreign investigative assistance. 

• Cross-border Jurisdiction Authority.—The law provides the 

FTC with litigation authority to redress harm in the United 

States caused by foreign actors, as well as harm caused by U.S. 

actors abroad. This provision allows the FTC to avoid challenges to its cross-border jurisdiction and helps encourage the 

availability of all remedies for U.S. consumer victims in foreign 

courts. 

• Enforcement Relationships.—The law authorizes the FTC 

to retain employees from foreign agencies on a temporary 

basis, which fosters the establishment of trust and understanding between agencies and facilitates more meaningful 

case cooperation. 

SAFE WEB has a seven-year sunset provision that is scheduled 

to expire in December 2013. All five Commissioners on the FTC, 

which enforces the law, support the extension of SAFE WEB. 

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS

S. 3410 extends the sunset provision in SAFE WEB by another 

seven years to September 2020. The bill does not change any substantive provisions in the law. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

On July 19, 2012, Senator Pryor introduced S. 3410, which was 

referred to the Committee for consideration. The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Ayotte. On July 31, 2012, in an open Executive 

Session, the Committee considered S. 3410 and favorably reported 

the bill by voice vote. 

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. 3410—A bill to extend the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, And 

Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders Act of 2006, 

and for other purposes 

CBO estimates that implementing S. 3410 would have no significant effect on discretionary spending over the 2013–2017 period. 

Enacting S. 3410 could result in collections of additional civil and 

criminal penalties, which would affect both revenues and direct 

spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO 

estimates that those effects also would be insignificant. 

S. 3410 would reauthorize the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, And 

Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders Act, which will 


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expire on December 22, 2013. The act provides administrative tools 

to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that augment its authority 

to enforce federal laws related to unfair and deceptive trade practices, such as sharing information with foreign agencies and investigating fraud that originates outside of the United States. The bill 

also would extend an authorization to appropriate $100,000 each 

year for the FTC to collaborate with foreign governments and to 

participate in multinational organizations related to law enforcement. Based on information from the FTC, CBO expects that enacting S. 3410 could change the types of fraud cases the agency investigates but would not change the agency’s workload. Therefore, 

CBO estimates that implementing S. 3410 would not have a significant effect on discretionary costs over the 2013–2017 period. 

Enacting S. 3410 could increase federal revenues and direct 

spending as a result of additional criminal and civil penalties assessed for violations of laws related to unfair and deceptive trade 

practices. Collections of civil penalties are recorded in the budget 

as revenues. Collections of criminal penalties are recorded in the 

budget as revenues, deposited in the Crime Victims Fund, and 

later spent. CBO estimates that the net effects of those transactions would be insignificant for each year because of the relatively small number of cases likely to be involved. 

S. 3410 would impose intergovernmental mandates, as defined in 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), by extending preemptions of state and local laws that prohibit individuals from disclosing information to the FTC and that require individuals to notify third parties if they disclose information to the FTC. Under 

current law, the preemptions would expire at the end of 2013; the 

bill would extend them until September 30, 2020. While the preemptions would limit the application of state and local law, CBO 

estimates that they would impose no duty on state, local, or tribal 

governments that would result in additional spending. 

S. 3410 also would extend an existing mandate that exempts 

from liability private entities that voluntarily provide certain information about third parties to the FTC. The extension of such protections constitutes a mandate on those third-party entities because it limits their ability to file a claim for the disclosure or failure to provide notice of disclosure. The cost of the mandate would 

be the forgone net value of settlements and damages that would 

have been awarded. Based on information from the FTC, few such 

lawsuits would probably be filed. Therefore, CBO expects that the 

cost of the mandate would fall below the annual threshold for private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($146 million, adjusted 

annually for inflation). 

On August 16, 2012, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

6131, a bill to extend the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, And Fraud 

Enforcement With Enforcers beyond Borders Act of 2006, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce 

on July 31, 2012. The language extending the act is identical in 

both the House and Senate bills, and the CBO estimates of the cost 

for each bill are the same. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Susan Willie (for 

federal costs), Elizabeth Cove Delisle (for the impact on state and 

local governments), and Marin Randall (for the impact on the priVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:54 Dec 06, 2012 Jkt 029010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\SR248.XXX SR248

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vate sector). The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 

Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT

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

Because S. 3410 does not create any new programs and only extends existing law, the legislation will have no impact on the number or types of individuals or businesses regulated. 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

S. 3410 will have no further impact on the Nation’s economy. 

PRIVACY

S. 3410 will not have any adverse impact on the personal privacy 

of affected individuals. 

PAPERWORK

S. 3410 will not increase paperwork requirements for private individuals or 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. Extension of the U.S. SAFE WEB Act of 2006 

Section 1 establishes the new sunset date for SAFE WEB as September 30, 2020. 

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): 

UNDERTAKING SPAM, SPYWARE, AND FRAUD ENFORCEMENT WITH ENFORCERS BEYOND BORDERS ACT OF 2006 

SEC. 13. SUNSET. 

[15 U.S.C. 44 note] 

øThis Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall cease to 

have effect on the date that is 7 years after the date of enactment 

of this Act.¿ 


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Effective September 30, 2020, this Act, and the amendments made 

by this Act, are repealed, and any provision of law amended by this 

Act shall be amended to read as if this Act had not been enacted 

into law. 

Æ 


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