Summary of HR 2100
The Antitampering Act of 2000

Sponsor. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Initial cosponsor. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). Additional cosponsors. Patrick Toomey, Ray LaHood, Steve Rothman, Jim Gibbons, Tom Latham, Christopher Shays, Tim Holden, Barney Frank, David Price.

Summary.  The basic prohibition of HR 2100 as passed by the Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee provides that:

"it shall be unlawful for any person, other than the consumer or the manufacturer of a good, knowingly and without authorization of the manufacturer (A) to alter, conceal, remove, obliterate, deface, strip, or peel any product identification code affixed to or embedded in a good and visible to the consumer;

The bill also prohibits switching product identification codes from one item to another, from affixing fake product identification codes.

The bill also makes it unlawful "to import, reimport, export, sell, distribute, or broker a good" which a person knows violates one of the decoding above listed decoding bans.

The sponsor of the bill stated the purpose of the bill as follows:

"This bill will also ensure that manufacturers will also have the ability to police their distribution channels, and enforce their contract rights they are currently entitled to. Finally, this bill will protect consumers from the possible health and safety risks that so often accompany tampered goods." See, Statement by Rep. Goodlatte, March 23, 2000.

HR 2100 applies broadly to all goods in interstate or foreign commerce. However, it does contain a couple of exceptions. It does not apply to "any hotel, restaurant, or other provider of services that must remove or alter the container, label, or packaging of a good in order to make the good available to the ultimate user or purchaser". Nor does the bill cover "any article of clothing".

The term "good" is defined broadly. It means "any article, product, or commodity that is customarily produced or distributed for sale, rental, or licensing in interstate or foreign commerce, and any package, label, or component thereof ..."

The term "product identification code" is also defined very broadly. It "means any visible number, letter, symbol, marking, date (including an expiration date), or code that is affixed to or embedded in any good, by which the manufacturer of the good may trace the good back to a particular lot, batch, date of production, or date of removal ..." However, it does not include UPC codes or copyright management information.

Status. This bill was introduced on June 9, 1999. (A similar bill was pending in the 105th Congress.) The House Courts and Intellectual Property (CIP) Subcommittee held a hearing on October 21, 1999, in which it heard mostly from supporters of the bill. The CIP Subcommittee approved a substitute amendment on March 23, 2000.

Legislative History with Links to Related Materials.

• 6/9/99. HR 2100 IH introduced in the House.
• 6/9/99. HR 2100 referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
• 6/28/99. HR 2100 referred to the Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee.
• 10/21/99. Hearing before the CIP Subcommittee.
• 3/23/00. CIP Subcommittee approved a substitute amendment by a vote of 6 to 3. See also:
    • Goodlatte Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute.
    • Statement by Rep. Goodlatte.