Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 944
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì920832ÈÎ920832                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/01/2022           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Rules (Baxley) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 42 - 202
    4  and insert:
    5  directly or through the online marketplace’s payment processer,
    6  count towards the calculation for the number of discrete sales
    7  or transactions or the gross revenues.
    8         (c)“Online marketplace means any consumer-directed
    9  electronically based or accessed platform that:
   10         1.Includes features that allow for, facilitate, or enable
   11  third-party sellers to engage in the sale, purchase, payment,
   12  storage, shipping, or delivery of a consumer product in the
   13  United States;
   14         2.Is used by one or more third-party sellers for such
   15  purposes; and
   16         3.Has a contractual or similar relationship with consumers
   17  governing their use of the platform to purchase consumer
   18  products.
   19         (d)“Seller” means a person who sells, offers to sell, or
   20  contracts to sell a consumer product through an online
   21  marketplace.
   22         (e)“Third-party seller” means any seller, independent of
   23  an online marketplace, that sells, offers to sell, or contracts
   24  to sell a consumer product in the United States through an
   25  online marketplace. The term does not include, with respect to
   26  an online marketplace:
   27         1.A seller that operates the online marketplace;
   28         2.A business entity that has made available to the general
   29  public the entity’s name, business address, and contact
   30  information;
   31         3.A business entity with an ongoing contractual
   32  relationship with the online marketplace to provide the online
   33  marketplace with the manufacture, distribution, wholesaling, or
   34  fulfillment of shipments of consumer products; or
   35         4.A business entity that has provided to the online
   36  marketplace identifying information that has been verified.
   37         (f)“Verify” means to confirm information and documentation
   38  provided to an online marketplace by the use of one or more
   39  methods that enable the online marketplace to reliably determine
   40  that any information and documents provided which correspond to
   41  the seller or an individual acting on the seller’s behalf are
   42  valid, not misappropriated, and not falsified.
   43         (2)VERIFICATION.—
   44         (a)An online marketplace shall require that any high
   45  volume third-party seller on the online marketplace provide the
   46  online marketplace with all of the following information within
   47  10 days after qualifying as a high-volume third-party seller:
   48         1.Deposit account information from a financial
   49  institution. If the high-volume third-party seller does not have
   50  deposit account information at a financial institution, such
   51  seller must provide the online marketplace with the name of the
   52  payee for payments issued by the online marketplace to the high
   53  volume third-party seller, and the information must be confirmed
   54  by the online marketplace or by another third party contracted
   55  by the online marketplace.
   56         2.Contact information, including all of the following:
   57         a.A valid e-mail address and phone number.
   58         b.If the high-volume third-party seller is an individual,
   59  the individual’s name.
   60         c.If the high-volume third-party seller is not an
   61  individual, either a copy of a government-issued photo
   62  identification for an individual acting on behalf of such seller
   63  which includes such individual’s name and physical address or a
   64  copy of a government-issued record or tax document that includes
   65  the business name and physical address of the high-volume third
   66  party seller.
   67         3.A business tax identification number or, if the high
   68  volume third-party seller does not have a business tax
   69  identification number, a taxpayer identification number.
   70         (b)The online marketplace shall verify the information the
   71  high-volume third-party seller provides under this subsection
   72  within 10 days after receiving such information. If the high
   73  volume third-party seller provides any changes to the
   74  information, the online marketplace must verify such changes
   75  within 10 days after receiving the information. If a high-volume
   76  third-party seller provides a copy of a valid government-issued
   77  tax document, the information contained within such tax document
   78  shall be presumed verified as of the date of issuance of such
   79  document.
   80         (c)The online marketplace shall, on at least an annual
   81  basis, notify each high-volume third-party seller on the online
   82  marketplace that such seller must inform the online marketplace
   83  of any changes to the information previously provided by the
   84  seller within 10 days after receiving the notification. The
   85  notification must require the high-volume third-party seller to
   86  either electronically certify that the high-volume third-party
   87  seller’s information is unchanged or provide changes to the
   88  information as necessary. If the online marketplace becomes
   89  aware that a high-volume third-party seller has not certified
   90  that such information is unchanged or provided such changed
   91  information within 10 days after receiving such notification,
   92  the online marketplace must suspend the selling privileges of
   93  the high-volume third-party seller until such seller provides
   94  such certification or changed information.
   95         (3)DISCLOSURE.—
   96         (a)An online marketplace shall disclose to consumers, in a
   97  clear and conspicuous manner in the order confirmation message
   98  or other document or communication made to the consumer after
   99  the purchase is finalized and in the consumer’s account
  100  transaction history, all of the following information of any
  101  high-volume third-party seller with an aggregate total of
  102  $20,000 or more in annual gross revenues on its online platform:
  103         1.The full name of the high-volume third-party seller,
  104  which may include the seller’s name or company name, or the name
  105  by which the seller or company operates on the online
  106  marketplace.
  107         2.The full physical address of the high-volume third-party
  108  seller. If the seller certifies to the online marketplace that
  109  the seller does not have a business address and only has a
  110  residential street address, or has a combined business and
  111  residential address, the online marketplace may:
  112         a.Disclose to consumers the country of the seller and, if
  113  applicable, the state in which the seller resides.
  114         b.Inform consumers that a business address is not
  115  available for the seller and that consumer inquiries should be
  116  submitted to the seller by telephone, e-mail, or other means of
  117  electronic messaging provided to the seller by the online
  118  marketplace. If the seller certifies to the online marketplace
  119  that the seller is a business that has a physical address for
  120  product returns, the online marketplace may disclose the
  121  seller’s physical address for product returns.
  122         3.Contact information for the high-volume third-party
  123  seller, including a telephone number or an e-mail address or
  124  other means of direct electronic messaging, which may be
  125  provided to the seller by the online marketplace, to allow for
  126  direct, unhindered communication with the seller. If the only
  127  telephone number of the seller is the personal telephone number
  128  of the seller, the online marketplace must inform consumers that
  129  a telephone number is not available for the seller and that
  130  consumer inquiries should be submitted to the seller’s e-mail
  131  address or other means of electronic messaging provided to the
  132  seller by the online marketplace.
  133         4.Whether the high-volume third-party seller used a
  134  different seller to supply the consumer product to the consumer
  135  upon purchase. Upon the request of the consumer, the online
  136  marketplace shall disclose the identification of a seller, if
  137  the seller is different from the high-volume third-party seller
  138  listed on the consumer product listing before the purchase.
  139         (b)If an online marketplace becomes aware that a high
  140  volume third-party seller has made a false representation to the
  141  online marketplace in order to restrict access to the full
  142  physical address, telephone number, or e-mail address required
  143  in paragraph (a), the online marketplace must, after providing
  144  the seller with written or electronic notice, require the full
  145  disclosure of the high-volume third-party seller’s full physical
  146  address, telephone number, and e-mail address. If such
  147  information is not disclosed within 10 days after notification,
  148  the online marketplace must suspend the selling privileges of
  149  the high-volume third-party seller on the online marketplace
  150  until the required information is disclosed.
  151         (c)An online marketplace shall provide to consumers, in a
  152  conspicuous manner on the consumer product listing of any high
  153  volume third-party seller, a reporting mechanism that allows for
  154  electronic and telephonic reporting of suspicious marketplace
  155  activity to the online marketplace.
  156         (d)This subsection does not prevent an online marketplace
  157  from using any additional measures, electronic or otherwise,
  158  that it deems necessary to prevent spam, fraud, or abuse in
  159  communication between the consumer and the high-volume third
  160  party seller, or the sale of fraudulent, stolen, or counterfeit
  161  consumer products on its platform.
  162         (4)DATA USE LIMITATION.—Data collected solely to comply
  163  with the requirements of this section may not be used for any
  164  other purpose unless required by law.
  165         (5)DATA SECURITY REQUIREMENT.—An online marketplace shall
  166  implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and
  167  practices, including administrative, physical, and technical
  168  safeguards, which are appropriate to the nature of the data and
  169  the purposes for which the data will be used, to protect the
  170  data collected to comply with the requirements of this section
  171  from unauthorized use, disclosure, access, destruction, or
  172  modification.
  173         (6)ENFORCEMENT.—A violation of this section constitutes a
  174  violation of the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act under
  175  part II of chapter 501. A person who violates this section is
  176  subject to the penalties and remedies provided therein.
  177  Notwithstanding s. 501.211, this section does not create a
  178  private cause of action in favor of any person damaged by a
  179  violation of this section.
  180         (7)RULES.—The Department of Legal Affairs may adopt rules
  181  with respect to collecting and verifying information under this
  182  section, provided that such rules are limited to what is
  183  necessary to collect and verify such information.
  184         (8)PREEMPTION.—The regulation of the requirement for
  185  online marketplaces to verify information from high-volume
  186  third-party sellers on a one-time or ongoing basis or disclose
  187  information to consumers is preempted to the department. A local
  188  governmental entity may not establish, mandate, or otherwise
  189  require the verification or disclosure of such information.
  190         Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2023.
  191  
  192  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  193  And the title is amended as follows:
  194         Delete lines 18 - 19
  195  and insert:
  196         specified manner; requiring specified disclosures;
  197         prohibiting certain collected data from being used for
  198         any other purpose unless required by law; requiring
  199         online marketplaces to implement and maintain certain
  200         security procedures and practices relating to data
  201         security; providing for enforcement; providing
  202         construction; authorizing the Department