I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5111 
To prohibit the use of certain clauses in form contracts that restrict the 
ability of a consumer to communicate regarding the goods or services 
offered in interstate commerce that were the subject of the contract, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2016 
Mr. LANCE (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ISSA, Mr. SWALWELL of Cali-
fornia, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. HARPER, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. MULLIN, and Mr. 
OLSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To prohibit the use of certain clauses in form contracts 
that restrict the ability of a consumer to communicate 
regarding the goods or services offered in interstate com-
merce that were the subject of the contract, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer Review 
Fairness Act of 2016’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONSUMER REVIEW PROTECTION. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
(2) COVERED
COMMUNICATION.—The term 
‘‘covered communication’’ means a written, oral, or 
pictorial review, performance assessment of, or other 
similar analysis of, including by electronic means, 
the goods, services, or conduct of a person by an in-
dividual who is party to a form contract with respect 
to which such person is also a party. 
(3) FORM CONTRACT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘form contract’’ 
means a contract with standardized terms— 
(i) used by a person in the course of 
selling or leasing the person’s goods or 
services; and 
(ii) imposed on an individual without 
a meaningful opportunity for such indi-
vidual to negotiate the standardized terms. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘form con-
tract’’ does not include an employer-employee 
or independent contractor contract. 
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(4) PICTORIAL.—The term ‘‘pictorial’’ includes 
pictures, photographs, video, illustrations, and sym-
bols. 
(b) INVALIDITY OF CONTRACTS THAT IMPEDE CON-
SUMER REVIEWS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graphs (2) and (3), a provision of a form contract 
is void from the inception of such contract if such 
provision— 
(A) prohibits or restricts the ability of an 
individual who is a party to the form contract 
to engage in a covered communication; 
(B) imposes a penalty or fee against an in-
dividual who is a party to the form contract for 
engaging in a covered communication; or 
(C) transfers or requires an individual who 
is a party to the form contract to transfer to 
any person any intellectual property rights in 
review or feedback content, with the exception 
of a non-exclusive license to use the content, 
that the individual may have in any otherwise 
lawful covered communication about such per-
son or the goods or services provided by such 
person. 
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(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
paragraph (1) shall be construed to affect— 
(A) any duty of confidentiality imposed by 
law (including agency guidance); 
(B) any civil cause of action for defama-
tion, libel, or slander, or any similar cause of 
action; 
(C) any party’s right to remove or refuse 
to display publicly on an Internet website or 
webpage owned, operated, or otherwise con-
trolled by such party any content of a covered 
communication that— 
(i) contains the personal information 
or likeness of another person or is libelous, 
harassing, abusive, obscene, vulgar, sexu-
ally explicit, or inappropriate with respect 
to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, or 
other intrinsic characteristic; 
(ii) is unrelated to the goods or serv-
ices offered by or available at such party’s 
Internet website or webpage; or 
(iii) is clearly false or misleading; or 
(D) a party’s right to establish terms and 
conditions with respect to the creation of photo-
graphs or video of such party’s property when 
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those photographs or video are created by an 
employee or independent contractor of a com-
mercial entity and solely intended for commer-
cial purposes by that entity. 
(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply to the extent that a provision of a form con-
tract prohibits disclosure or submission of, or re-
serves the right of a person or business that hosts 
online consumer reviews or comments to remove— 
(A) trade secrets or commercial or finan-
cial information obtained from a person and 
considered privileged or confidential; 
(B) personnel and medical files and similar 
information the disclosure of which would con-
stitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of per-
sonal privacy; 
(C) records or information compiled for 
law enforcement purposes, the disclosure of 
which would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of personal privacy; 
(D) content that is unlawful or otherwise 
meets the requirements of paragraph (2)(C); or 
(E) content that contains any computer vi-
ruses, worms, or other potentially damaging 
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computer code, processes, programs, applica-
tions, or files. 
(c) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for a person 
to offer a form contract containing a provision described 
as void in subsection (b). 
(d) ENFORCEMENT BY COMMISSION.— 
(1) UNFAIR
OR
DECEPTIVE
ACTS
OR
PRAC-
TICES.—A violation of subsection (c) by a person 
with respect to which the Commission is empowered 
under section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)) shall be treated as a 
violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act 
or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of 
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 
enforce this section in the same manner, by the 
same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 
powers, and duties as though all applicable 
terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in-
corporated into and made a part of this Act. 
(B) PRIVILEGES
AND
IMMUNITIES.—Any 
person who violates this section shall be subject 
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to the penalties and entitled to the privileges 
and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
(e) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to subparagraph 
(B), in any case in which the attorney general of a 
State has reason to believe that an interest of the 
residents of the State has been or is threatened or 
adversely affected by the engagement of any person 
subject to subsection (c) in a practice that violates 
such subsection, the attorney general of the State 
may, as parens patriae, bring a civil action on behalf 
of the residents of the State in an appropriate dis-
trict court of the United States to obtain appro-
priate relief. 
(2) RIGHTS
OF
FEDERAL
TRADE
COMMIS-
SION.— 
(A) NOTICE TO FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-
SION.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 
in clause (iii), the attorney general of a 
State shall notify the Commission in writ-
ing that the attorney general intends to 
bring a civil action under paragraph (1) 
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before initiating the civil action against a 
person described in subsection (d)(1). 
(ii) CONTENTS.—The notification re-
quired by clause (i) with respect to a civil 
action shall include a copy of the complaint 
to be filed to initiate the civil action. 
(iii) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible 
for the attorney general of a State to pro-
vide the notification required by clause (i) 
before initiating a civil action under para-
graph (1), the attorney general shall notify 
the Commission immediately upon insti-
tuting the civil action. 
(B) INTERVENTION
BY
FEDERAL
TRADE 
COMMISSION.—The Commission may— 
(i) intervene in any civil action 
brought by the attorney general of a State 
under paragraph (1) against a person de-
scribed in subsection (d)(1); and 
(ii) upon intervening— 
(I) be heard on all matters aris-
ing in the civil action; and 
(II) file petitions for appeal of a 
decision in the civil action. 
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(3) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—Nothing in this 
subsection may be construed to prevent the attorney 
general of a State from exercising the powers con-
ferred on the attorney general by the laws of the 
State to conduct investigations, to administer oaths 
or affirmations, or to compel the attendance of wit-
nesses or the production of documentary or other 
evidence. 
(4) PREEMPTIVE ACTION BY FEDERAL TRADE 
COMMISSION.—If the Federal Trade Commission in-
stitutes a civil action or an administrative action 
with respect to a violation of subsection (c), the at-
torney general of a State may not, during the pend-
ency of such action, bring a civil action under para-
graph (1) against any defendant named in the com-
plaint of the Commission for the violation with re-
spect to which the Commission instituted such ac-
tion. 
(5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 
(A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 
paragraph (1) may be brought in— 
(i) the district court of the United 
States that meets applicable requirements 
relating to venue under section 1391 of 
title 28, United States Code; or 
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(ii) another court of competent juris-
diction. 
(B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 
brought under paragraph (1), process may be 
served in any district in which the defendant— 
(i) is an inhabitant; or 
(ii) may be found. 
(6) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to civil ac-
tions brought by attorneys general under para-
graph (1), any other consumer protection offi-
cer of a State who is authorized by the State 
to do so may bring a civil action under para-
graph (1), subject to the same requirements 
and limitations that apply under this subsection 
to civil actions brought by attorneys general. 
(B) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this 
subsection may be construed to prohibit an au-
thorized official of a State from initiating or 
continuing any proceeding in a court of the 
State for a violation of any civil or criminal law 
of the State. 
(f) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH FOR BUSINESSES.— 
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Commission shall commence conducting 
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education and outreach that provides businesses with non- 
binding best practices for compliance with this Act. 
(g) RELATION
TO STATE CAUSES
OF ACTION.— 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any 
cause of action brought by a person that exists or may 
exist under State law. 
(h) EFFECTIVE DATES.—This section shall take ef-
fect on the date of the enactment of this Act, except 
that— 
(1) subsections (b) and (c) shall apply with re-
spect to contracts in effect on or after the date that 
is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act; and 
(2) subsections (d) and (e) shall apply with re-
spect to contracts in effect on or after the date that 
is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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