Chamber Wins on FACTA, IP

 

Under heavy pressure from the U.S. Chamber and its members, Congress took action on two bills aimed at helping small businesses threatened by abusive lawsuits and intellectual property (IP) theft.

 

On June 4, President Bush signed a bill that amends the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) to make clear that a company was not in willful violation of the act if it shortened a consumer's credit card number printed on a receipt to four digits but did not remove the expiration date.

 

The bill will render moot more than 500 class action lawsuits that had been filed nationwide against retailers, restaurants, and other businesses, putting them at risk for billions of dollars in damages without requiring evidence of actual harm or account fraud.

 

However, the new bill only covers receipts printed between December 4, 2004, and June 3, 2008. "It's important to note that companies still must bring their point of sale machines into compliance immediately because we do not foresee Congress having the appetite to readdress this issue anytime soon," says Chamber Executive Vice President Bruce Josten. 

 

In May, the House passed Chamber-supported legislation to further crack down on intellectual property theft and piracy.

 

The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007, or PRO-IP Act, strengthens civil and criminal penalties against IP theft and piracy, increases resources devoted to fighting IP crimes, and improves coordination of federal enforcement efforts. The U.S. Chamber is pushing for the Senate to consider similar anti-counterfeiting legislation.

 

The Chamber actively lobbied in support of both bills, sending letters to key members of Congress before each step of the process and raising the profile of the issues in the media.