42 U.S.C. § 17304: Penalties

Summary

Suppliers who break the rules in sections 17301 or 17302 can be fined up to $1,000,000, in addition to any penalties under the Federal Trade Commission Act. The government collects these fines the same way it collects civil penalties under section 5 of the FTC Act. Each day a violation keeps going counts as a separate offense. When setting the fine, a court must look at how serious the violation was and whether the supplier tried to fix the harm quickly.

Title 42, §17304

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Civil penalty

In addition to any penalty applicable under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), any supplier that violates section 17301 or 17302 of this title shall be punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $1,000,000.

(b)Method

The penalties provided by subsection (a) shall be obtained in the same manner as civil penalties imposed under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45).

(c)Multiple offenses; mitigating factors

In assessing the penalty provided by subsection (a)—

(1)each day of a continuing violation shall be considered a separate violation; and

(2)the court shall take into consideration, among other factors—

(A)the seriousness of the violation; and

(B)the efforts of the person committing the violation to remedy the harm caused by the violation in a timely manner.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Trade Commission Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is act Sept. 26, 1914, ch. 311, 38 Stat. 717, which is classified generally to subchapter I (§ 41 et seq.) of chapter 2 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 58 of Title 15 and Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of Pub. L. 110–140, set out as a note under section 1824 of Title 2, The Congress.

§17304 Penalties