The House of Representatives voted to approve legislation restricting criminals’ ability to sell stolen products on platforms such as Amazon.
The vote comes as retailers face a rise in organized theft, which some of them have blamed partly on online platforms that allow thieves to resell merchandise on a mass scale.
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The House voted 381-39 on Thursday in favor of the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act, also known as the INFORM Consumers Act. The bill was passed as part of a more extensive collection of legislation. It would require third-party sellers to provide personal identifying information if they regularly sell products on an online marketplace, such as those on Amazon and Facebook.
“The selling of illegal and counterfeit products online is a serious issue,” TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore said in a statement praising the bill’s passage. “It not only jeopardizes consumer safety but costs businesses billions annually. The INFORM Act will set a national standard that brings greater safety to online marketplaces, protect consumers and their data, and allow online commerce to flourish.”
Moore, representing a major tech industry group, said the bill has broad support from “law enforcement agencies, consumer advocacy groups, manufacturers, retailers, and online marketplaces.” Amazon, however, is believed to have played a role in 2021 in attempting to water down the legislation’s language.
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The bill targets high-volume third-party sellers who conduct 200 or more transactions valued at $5,000 or more over a 12-month period. Affected sellers must provide identifying information, including bank accounts, identification, tax info, and contact info.
