II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1359 

To allow manufacturers to meet warranty and labeling requirements for 

consumer products by displaying the terms of warranties on Internet 

websites, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2015 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. NELSON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To allow manufacturers to meet warranty and labeling requirements for consumer products by displaying the 

terms of warranties on Internet websites, 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 ‘‘E-Warranty Act of 

5 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Many manufacturers and consumers prefer 

2 to have the option to provide or receive warranty in3 formation online. 

4 (2) Modernizing warranty notification rules is 

5 necessary to allow the United States to continue to 

6 compete globally in manufacturing, trade, and the 

7 development of consumer products connected to the 

8 Internet. 

9 (3) Allowing an electronic warranty option 

10 would expand consumer access to relevant consumer 

11 information in an environmentally friendly way, and 

12 would provide additional flexibility to manufacturers 

13 to meet their labeling and warranty requirements. 

14 SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC DISPLAY OF TERMS OF WRITTEN WAR15 RANTY FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(b) of the Magnuson17 Moss Warranty—Federal Trade Commission Improve18 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 2302(b)) is amended by adding at 

19 the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 

21 rules prescribed under this subsection shall allow for the 

22 satisfaction of all requirements concerning the availability 

23 of terms of a written warranty on a consumer product 

24 under this subsection by— 


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1 ‘‘(i) making available such terms in an acces2 sible digital format on the Internet website of the 

3 manufacturer of the consumer product in a clear 

4 and conspicuous manner; and 

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

6 consumer) information with respect to how to obtain 

7 and review such terms by indicating on the product 

8 or product packaging or in the product manual— 

9 ‘‘(I) the Internet website of the manufac10 turer where such terms can be obtained and re11 viewed; and 

12 ‘‘(II) the phone number of the manufac13 turer, the postal mailing address of the manu14 facturer, or another reasonable non-Internet 

15 based means of contacting the manufacturer to 

16 obtain and review such terms. 

17 ‘‘(B) With respect to any requirement that the terms 

18 of any written warranty on a consumer product be made 

19 available to the consumer (or prospective consumer) prior 

20 to sale of the product, in a case in which a consumer prod21 uct is offered for sale in a retail location, by catalog, or 

22 through door-to-door sales, subparagraph (A) shall only 

23 apply if the seller makes available at the location of the 

24 sale to the consumer purchasing the consumer product the 


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1 terms of the warranty on the consumer product before the 

2 purchase.’’. 

3 (b) REVISION OF RULES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

6 Trade Commission shall revise the rules prescribed 

7 under such section to comply with the requirements 

8 of paragraph (4) of such section, as added by sub9 section (a) of this section. 

10 (2) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE REQUIREMENT FOR

11 ORAL PRESENTATION.—In revising rules under para12 graph (1), the Federal Trade Commission may waive 

13 the requirement of section 109(a) of such Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 2309(a)) to give interested persons an oppor15 tunity for oral presentation if the Commission deter16 mines that giving interested persons such oppor17 tunity would interfere with the ability of the Com18 mission to revise rules under paragraph (1) in a 

19 timely manner. 

Æ 


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