Interpretation ID: 22132oneW--BusinessModelOneOnly
Mark A. Rosenbaum, Esq.
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
180 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038-4982
Dear Mr. Rosenbaum:
This responds to your August 17, 2000, letter about Safety Standard No. 213, "Child Restraint Systems" (49 CFR 571.213), as it relates to the services that your client, OneWarranty.com, Inc., would like to offer concerning owner registration of child restraint systems and other products. I apologize for the delay in responding. You ask three questions, which are addressed below.
Standard No. 213
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, "Child Restraint Systems," establishes an owner registration program for child restraint systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) implemented the program to improve the effectiveness of manufacturer campaigns to recall child restraints that contain a safety-related defect or that fail to conform to Standard No. 213. By increasing the number of identified child restraint purchasers, the program increases the manufacturers' ability to inform owners of restraints about defects or noncompliances in those restraints.
Under the program, child restraint manufacturers are required to provide a registration form attached to each child restraint (S5.8). The registration form must conform in size, content and format to forms depicted in the standard (figures 9a and 9b). Each form must include a detachable postage-paid postcard which provides a space for the consumer to record his or her name and address, and must be preprinted with the restraint's model name or number and its date of manufacture. Except for information that distinguishes a particular restraint from other systems, no other information is permitted to appear on the postcard. (S5.8(c)). Child restraints are also required to be labeled with a statement urging the owner to register with the manufacturer (S5.5.2(m)). The statement also must be in the printed instructions for each child restraint (S5.6.1.7).
OneWarranty.com
On September 13, 2000, you and your client, Douglas Suliman, Jr. of OneWarranty.com, met with several representatives of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), including Jon White, Zack Fraser, Michael Huntley, and Deirdre Fujita of my staff. You explained that your client is an internet company that provides product registration services to consumers and manufacturers for a multitude of manufacturers and products. The company's services would be free to consumers.
Your client is considering entering into an arrangement with child restraint manufacturers to register owners of child restraint systems. Under the arrangement, the manufacturer's owner registration cards would be printed with information notifying purchasers that they may register the child restraint "through a mail-in card or via the internet" through OneWarranty.com's web-site. (Your first two questions relate to the permissibility of including this information on the card.) OneWarranty.com would be informed of a safety recall by the child restraint manufacturer. The owner's identity would be held by OneWarranty.com and withheld from the child restraint manufacturer, so that, as you state on page two of your letter, "the consumer can maintain its privacy from the manufacturer and from intrusive questionnaires traditionally associated with product registration...." The company would maintain the registration information for a minimum of six years. Under the model, OneWarranty.com contemplates notifying child restraint owners electronically of a recall, by e-mail. (Your third question relates to the permissibility of e-mail notifications of a recall.)