Bill Text: NY A10215 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Prohibits third-party restaurant reservation services from arranging unauthorized restaurant reservations with food service establishments; establishes fines for violations of such prohibition.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-06 - RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY [A10215 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A10215-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                        10215--A

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 13, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES  --  (at request of M. of A. Bores,
          Gibbs, Gallagher, Forrest, Lee, Beephan) -- read once and referred  to
          the  Committee  on  Consumer  Affairs  and  Protection -- reported and
          referred to the Committee  on  Codes  --  committee  discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee

        AN ACT to amend the general business law,  in  relation  to  prohibiting
          third-party  restaurant  reservation services from arranging unauthor-
          ized restaurant reservations with food service establishments

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "restaurant reservation anti-piracy act".
     3    § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 391-w
     4  to read as follows:
     5    § 391-w. Unauthorized restaurant reservations. 1. Definitions. For the
     6  purposes of this section, the following terms shall have  the  following
     7  meanings:
     8    (a)  "Food  service establishment" shall have the same meaning as that
     9  term is defined in section three hundred ninety-one-v of this article.
    10    (b) "Third-party restaurant reservation service"  means  any  website,
    11  mobile  application  or  other  internet  service  that:  (i)  offers or
    12  arranges for reserving on-premises service for  a  customer  at  a  food
    13  service  establishment;  and (ii) that is owned and operated by a person
    14  other than the person who owns  such  food  service  establishment.    A
    15  third-party  restaurant reservation service shall not include any reser-
    16  vation  distribution channels that are authorized to distribute reserva-
    17  tions by way of a contractual relationship with  either  the  applicable
    18  food service establishment or a contractual designee of the food service
    19  establishment  who  obtained    reservation distribution rights directly
    20  from the food service establishment.
    21    2. A third-party restaurant reservation service shall not list, adver-
    22  tise, promote, or sell reservations for  a  food  service  establishment
    23  through the website, mobile application or other platform of such third-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15420-10-4
        A. 10215--A                         2

     1  party restaurant reservation service without a written agreement between
     2  such  third-party  restaurant  reservation service and such food service
     3  establishment to include reservations at the food service  establishment
     4  on such website, mobile application or other platform.
     5    3.    Any  person who violates, or causes another person to violate, a
     6  provision of this section or  any  rule  promulgated  pursuant  thereto,
     7  shall  be  subject to a civil penalty that shall not exceed one thousand
     8  dollars for each violation. Violations by third-party restaurant  reser-
     9  vation  services  under  this  section shall accrue on a daily basis for
    10  each day and for each food service establishment with respect to which a
    11  violation of this section or  any  rule  promulgated  pursuant  to  this
    12  section  was  committed.  A  proceeding  to recover any civil penalty or
    13  restitution authorized pursuant to this section may  be  brought  within
    14  any agency of the state designated to conduct such proceedings.
    15    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    16  have become a law.