PRINTER'S NO. 3634
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2217
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY WHEATLEY, KINSEY AND MURT, JUNE 27, 2016
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, JUNE 27, 2016
AN ACT
Providing for social referral service contracts and for Internet
dating safety.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Preliminary Provisions
Section 101. Short title.
Section 102. Definitions.
Chapter 3. Social Referral Service Contracts
Section 301. Payments to social referral service provider.
Section 302. Social referral service contract requirements.
Section 303. Furnishing and cancellation of social referral
service contract.
Section 304. Dating Service Consumer Bill of Rights.
Section 305. Civil action.
Chapter 5. Internet Dating Safety
Section 501. Internet dating service provider duties.
Section 502. Civil action.
Chapter 7. Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 701. Applicability.
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Section 702. Effective date.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
CHAPTER 1
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
Section 101. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Dating
Service Consumer Bill of Rights Act.
Section 102. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Ancillary services." Goods or services directly or
indirectly related to or to be provided in connection with the
social referral service process, including, but not limited to,
photography, grooming, cosmetology, dating etiquette, dating
counseling or other services.
"Internet dating service." A person or entity directly or
indirectly in the business, for profit, of offering, promoting
or providing access to dating, relationship, compatibility,
matrimonial or social referral services principally on or
through the Internet.
"Internet service provider." Any person, business or
organization qualified to do business in this Commonwealth
that provides individuals, corporations or other entities with
the ability to connect to the Internet through equipment that is
located in this Commonwealth.
"Member." A customer, client or participant who submits
information to an Internet dating service as required to access
the service for the purpose of engaging in dating, relationship,
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compatibility, matrimonial or social referral.
"Pennsylvania member." A member who provides a billing
address or zip code located within this Commonwealth when
registering with the service.
"Social referral service." Any service for a fee providing
matching of members, by use of computer or any other means, for
the purpose of dating and general social contact.
CHAPTER 3
SOCIAL REFERRAL SERVICE CONTRACTS
Section 301. Payments to social referral service provider.
(a) General rule.--No contract for social referral service
shall require payment by a purchaser of the service of more than
$1,000. Services to be rendered to the purchaser under the
contract may extend over a period not to exceed two years from
the date the contract is entered into.
(b) Ancillary service.--No social referral service provider
shall require the purchase of an ancillary service by a
purchaser of the service as a condition of entering into a
social referral service contract with the provider.
Section 302. Social referral service contract requirements.
(a) Number of social service referrals.--The following shall
apply:
(1) Every contract for social referral service which
requires payment by the purchaser of the service of a total
amount in excess of $25 shall provide that the provider must
furnish to the purchaser a specified number of social
referrals per month.
(2) Every contract for social referral service
which requires payment by the purchaser of the service of a
total amount in excess of $25 shall provide that if
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the provider does not furnish to the purchaser the specified
certain number of social referrals for two or more successive
months, the purchaser shall have the option to cancel the
contract and to receive a refund of all money paid under the
canceled contract. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
provider shall be entitled to retain 15% of the cash price or
a pro rata amount for the number of referrals furnished to
the purchaser, whichever is greater, as a cancellation fee.
(b) Determination of cancellation fee.--Every contract for
social referral service shall set forth in the contract and in
the bill of rights the manner in which the service provider
determines its cancellation fee.
(c) Sale, assignment or transfer of contract.--Every
contract for social referral service shall provide that the
provider will not, without the prior written consent of the
purchaser, sell, assign or otherwise transfer for business or
for any other purpose to any person any information and material
of a personal or private nature acquired from a purchaser
directly or indirectly, including, but not limited to, answers
to tests and questionnaires, photographs or background
information.
(d) Suspension of membership.--Every contract for a social
referral service shall provide each purchaser with the
unilateral right to place his or her membership on hold for a
period of up to one year. The purchaser and provider may
mutually agree to a longer period not to exceed two years. To
exercise the unilateral right provided under this subsection,
a purchaser must notify the provider in writing of his or her
intent to do so.
(e) Return of personal or private information and
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material.--Every contract for social referral service shall
provide that at the expiration of the contract or at the
expiration of services rendered by the provider, for any reason,
all information and material of a personal or private nature
acquired from a purchaser directly or indirectly, including,
but not limited to, answers to tests and questionnaires,
photographs or background information, shall be promptly
returned by the seller to the purchaser by certified mail.
(f) Cancellation period.--Every contract for social referral
service shall provide that the contract may be canceled without
a cancellation fee within three business days after the date of
receipt by the buyer of a copy of the written contract.
(g) Distance.--Every contract for social referral service
shall specify the distance which the buyer is willing to travel
to meet any social referral. No social referral shall be
furnished by the seller to the buyer if either the buyer or the
social referral reside at a distance further than the distance
specified in either the buyer's or social referral's contracts.
(h) Relocation outside service area.--Every social referral
service provider must establish and administer a fair
and reasonable policy for the situation in which a purchaser
moves to permanently reside at a location outside the service
area of the provider. This policy must be set forth in every
contract for social referral service.
Section 303. Furnishing and cancellation of social referral
service contract.
(a) General rule.--In every social referral service sale,
the provider shall furnish to the buyer a fully completed copy
of the contract pertaining to such sale at the time of its
execution, which is in the same language as that principally
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used in the oral sales presentation and which shows the date of
the transaction and contains the name and address of the
provider, and in the immediate proximity to the space reserved
in the contract for the signature of the buyer and in not less
than ten-point boldface type, a statement in substantially the
following form:
YOU, THE BUYER, MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT
WITHOUT ANY CANCELLATION FEE WITHIN THREE (3)
BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT. SEE
THE ATTACHED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION FORM FOR AN
EXPLANATION OF THIS RIGHT.
(b) Delivery of notice of cancellation.--Notice of
cancellation shall be delivered by certified or registered
United States mail at the address specified in the contract.
(c) Contents of notice of cancellation.--At the time the
buyer signs the social referral service contract, a completed
form in duplicate, captioned "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION," which
shall be attached to the contract and easily detachable and
which shall contain in not less than ten-point boldface type the
following information and statements in the same language as
that used in the contract:
NOTICE OF CANCELLATION
(enter date of transaction)
(Date)
YOU MAY CANCEL THIS CONTRACT, WITHOUT ANY PENALTY OR OBLIGATION,
WITHIN THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT
BY MAILING THIS SIGNED AND DATED NOTICE OF CANCELLATION, BY
CERTIFIED OR REGISTERED UNITED STATES MAIL, TO THE SELLER AT THE
ADDRESS SPECIFIED HEREIN. IF YOU CANCEL, ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY
YOU UNDER THE CONTRACT WILL BE RETURNED WITHIN TEN (10) BUSINESS
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DAYS FOLLOWING RECEIPT BY THE SELLER OF YOUR CANCELLATION
NOTICE. TO CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION, SEND BY CERTIFIED OR
REGISTERED UNITED STATES MAIL, A SIGNED AND DATED COPY OF THIS
CANCELLATION NOTICE TO:
(Name of Seller) NOT LATER THAN _______________
___________________
(Address of Seller) (Date)
___________________
Section 304. Dating Service Consumer Bill of Rights.
In every social referral service sale or renewal, the
provider shall provide each purchaser with a clear and
conspicuous, separate written notice, to be known as the "Dating
Service Consumer Bill of Rights," which shall contain at least
the following information:
Dating Service Consumer Bill of Rights
(1) No social referral service contract shall require
the payment by you, the purchaser, of an amount greater than
$1,000. In addition, no such contract may extend over a
period of time greater than two years.
(2) No social referral service contract shall require
you, the purchaser, to purchase a good or service which is
directly or indirectly related to the social referral
service. These extra services are known as ancillary services
and, while these ancillary services may be offered to you,
the law prohibits the seller from requiring that you purchase
this service as a condition of your social referral service
contract.
(3) If your social referral service contract costs more
than $25, the seller must furnish a minimum number of
referrals per month to you. If this minimum amount is not
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furnished to you for two successive months, you have the
option of canceling the contract and receiving a full refund
of all the money you paid, less a cancellation fee which
cannot exceed either 15% of the cash price or a pro rata
amount for the number of referrals furnished to you.
(4) Your social referral service contract must specify
the distance which you, the purchaser, are willing to
travel to meet any social referral. No social referrals
shall be furnished where you and the referral live at a
distance greater than the distance specified in the contract.
(5) The provider must have an established policy to
address the situation of your moving outside the area it
services. This policy must be explained in your contract.
(6) If any provision of the social referral service
contract is violated, you have the right to bring a court
action against the provider which has violated the contract.
Section 305. Civil action.
(a) General rule.--Any person who has been injured by reason
of a violation of this chapter may bring an action in his or her
own name to enjoin such violation, an action to recover his or
her actual damages or $50, whichever is greater, or both such
actions.
(b) Attorney General.--Whenever there shall be a violation
of this chapter, an application may be made by the Attorney
General in the name of the people of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania to a court having jurisdiction to issue an
injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than
five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such
violations; and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the
court that the defendant has, in fact, violated this chapter, an
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injunction may be issued by such court enjoining and restraining
any further violation, without requiring proof that any person
has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. Whenever a court
shall determine that a violation of this chapter occurred, the
court may impose a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for
each violation.
(c) Cities of the first class.--In cities of the first
class, the provisions of this chapter may be enforced
concurrently with the Attorney General by the director of the
consumer affairs office of the city of the first class. A city
of the first class may also require social referral
services to be licensed. Licensing requirements may be
promulgated as are reasonably necessary to effectuate
licensure. A city of the first class may not impose substantive
requirements that are inconsistent with or more restrictive
than those set forth in this chapter. Any fee for a license may
not exceed $340 for a two-year period.
CHAPTER 5
INTERNET DATING SAFETY
Section 501. Internet dating service provider duties.
(a) General rule.--An internet dating service provider
offering services to Pennsylvania members shall provide safety
awareness notification that includes, at minimum, a list and
description of safety measures reasonably designed to increase
awareness of safer dating practices in a clear and conspicuous
manner. Such notification shall include, but not be limited to,
the following statements or substantially similar statements:
(1) "There is no substitute for acting with caution when
communicating with any stranger who wants to meet you."
(2) "Never include your last name, e-mail address, home
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address, phone number, place of work or any other
identifying information in your Internet profile or initial
e-mail messages. Stop communicating with anyone who
pressures you for personal or financial information or
attempts in any way to trick you into revealing it."
(3) "If you choose to have a face-to-face meeting with
another member, always tell someone in your family or a
friend where you are going and when you will return. Never
agree to be picked up at your home. Always provide your own
transportation to and from your date and meet in a public
place with many people around."
(b) Time of notification.--Such notification shall be
given at the time a Pennsylvania member registers with the
service and by way of a link on the publicly accessible Internet
website, or the first entry point, of the service.
Section 502. Civil action.
(a) General rule.--The Attorney General may bring an action
against an Internet dating service that violates the provisions
of this chapter:
(1) to enjoin further violation of the provisions of
this chapter; and
(2) to recover up to $250 for each Pennsylvania member
registered with the Internet dating service during the time
period that the Internet dating service was in violation of
this chapter.
(b) Increase in damages.--In an action under subsection (a)
(2), a court may increase the damages up to three times the
damages permitted where the defendant has been found to have
engaged in a pattern and practice of violating the provisions of
this chapter.
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(c) Nonliability.--No Internet dating service shall be
deemed to have violated the provisions of this chapter if such
Internet dating service shows, by a preponderance of the
evidence, that the violation was not intentional and resulted
from a bona fide error made notwithstanding the maintenance of
procedures reasonably adopted to avoid such error.
(d) Nonviolation.--An Internet service provider does not
violate this chapter solely as a result of serving as an
intermediary for the transmission of electronic messages between
members of an Internet dating service.
(e) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to restrict any right which any person may have under
any other statute or common law.
CHAPTER 7
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Section 701. Applicability.
This act shall apply to all contracts entered into on or
after the effective date of this section.
Section 702. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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