15 USC 6612 – State of mind; bystander liability; control
(a) Defendant‘s state of mind
In a Y2K action other than a claim for breach or repudiation of contract, and in which the defendant’s actual or constructive awareness of an actual or potential Y2K failure is an element of the claim, the defendant is not liable unless the plaintiff establishes that element of the claim by the standard of evidence under applicable State law in effect on the day before January 1, 1999.
(b) Limitation on bystander liability for Y2K failures
(1) In general
With respect to any Y2K action for money damages in which—
(A) the defendant is not the manufacturer, seller, or distributor of a product, or the provider of a service, that suffers or causes the Y2K failure at issue;
(B) the plaintiff is not in substantial privity with the defendant; and
(C) the defendant’s actual or constructive awareness of an actual or potential Y2K failure is an element of the claim under applicable law,
the defendant shall not be liable unless the plaintiff, in addition to establishing all other requisite elements of the claim, proves, by the standard of evidence under applicable State law in effect on the day before January 1, 1999, that the defendant actually knew, or recklessly disregarded a known and substantial risk, that such failure would occur.
(2) Substantial privity
For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), a plaintiff and a defendant are in substantial privity when, in a Y2K action arising out of the performance of professional services, the plaintiff and the defendant either have contractual relations with one another or the plaintiff is a person who, prior to the defendant’s performance of such services, was specifically identified to and acknowledged by the defendant as a person for whose special benefit the services were being performed.
(3) Certain claims excluded
For purposes of paragraph (1)(C), claims in which the defendant’s actual or constructive awareness of an actual or potential Y2K failure is an element of the claim under applicable law do not include claims for negligence but do include claims such as fraud, constructive fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, and interference with contract or economic advantage.
(c) Control not determinative of liability
Terms Used In 15 USC 6612
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
The fact that a Y2K failure occurred in an entity, facility, system, product, or component that was sold, leased, rented, or otherwise within the control of the party against whom a claim is asserted in a Y2K action shall not constitute the sole basis for recovery of damages in that action. A claim in a Y2K action for breach or repudiation of contract for such a failure is governed by the terms of the contract.
(d) Protections of the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act apply
The protections for the exchanges of information provided by section 4 of the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act (Public Law 105-271) shall apply to any Y2K action.