15 U.S.C. § 6606
Before commencing a Y2K action, except an action that seeks only injunctive relief, a prospective plaintiff in a Y2K action shall send a written notice by certified mail (with either return receipt requested or other means of verification that the notice was sent) to each prospective defendant in that action. The notice shall provide specific and detailed information about-
The notice required by subsection (a) shall be sent-
Within 30 days after receipt of the notice specified in subsection (a), each prospective defendant shall send by certified mail with return receipt requested to each prospective plaintiff a written statement acknowledging receipt of the notice, and describing the actions it has taken or will take to address the problem identified by the prospective plaintiff.
The written statement shall state whether the prospective defendant is willing to engage in alternative dispute resolution.
A written statement required by this subsection is not admissible in evidence, under Rule 408 of the Federal Rules of Evidence or any analogous rule of evidence in any State, in any proceeding to prove liability for, or the invalidity of, a claim or its amount, or otherwise as evidence of conduct or statements made in compromise negotiations.
For purposes of paragraph (1), a notice under subsection (a) is presumed to be received 7 days after it was sent.
A prospective defendant receiving more than one notice under this section may give priority to notices with respect to a product or service that involves a health or safety related Y2K failure.
If a prospective defendant-
the prospective plaintiff may immediately commence a legal action against that prospective defendant.
If the prospective defendant responds and proposes remedial action it will take, or offers to engage in alternative dispute resolution, then the prospective plaintiff shall allow the prospective defendant an additional 60 days from the end of the 30-day notice period to complete the proposed remedial action or alternative dispute resolution before commencing a legal action against that prospective defendant.
The prospective plaintiff and prospective defendant may change the length of the 60-day remediation period by written agreement.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), a defendant in a Y2K action is entitled to no more than one 30-day period and one 60-day remediation period under paragraph (1).
Any applicable statute of limitations or doctrine of laches in a Y2K action to which paragraph (1) applies shall be tolled during the notice and remediation period under that paragraph.
If a defendant determines that a plaintiff has filed a Y2K action without providing the notice specified in subsection (a) or without awaiting the expiration of the appropriate waiting period specified in subsection (c), the defendant may treat the plaintiff's complaint as such a notice by so informing the court and the plaintiff in its initial response to the plaintiff. If any defendant elects to treat the complaint as such a notice-
In cases in which a contract, or a statute enacted before January 1, 1999, requires notice of nonperformance and provides for a period of delay prior to the initiation of suit for breach or repudiation of contract, the period of delay provided by contract or the statute is controlling over the waiting period specified in subsections (c) and (d).
Nothing in this section supersedes or otherwise preempts any State law or rule of civil procedure with respect to the use of alternative dispute resolution for Y2K actions.
Nothing in this section interferes with the right of a litigant to provisional remedies otherwise available under Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or any State rule of civil procedure providing extraordinary or provisional remedies in any civil action in which the underlying complaint seeks both injunctive and monetary relief.
For the purpose of applying this section to a Y2K action that is maintained as a class action in Federal or State court, the requirements of the preceding subsections of this section apply only to named plaintiffs in the class action.
15 U.S.C. § 6606
EDITORIAL NOTES
REFERENCES IN TEXTSection 3(7) of the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is section 3(7) of Pub. L. 105-271 which was formerly set out in a note under section 1 of this title.The Federal Rules of Evidence, referred to in subsec. (c)(3), are set out in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to in subsec. (i), are set out in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
- State
- The term "State" means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession of the United States, and any political subdivision thereof.
- Y2K failure
- The term "Y2K failure" means failure by any device or system (including any computer system and any microchip or integrated circuit embedded in another device or product), or any software, firmware, or other set or collection of processing instructions to process, to calculate, to compare, to sequence, to display, to store, to transmit, or to receive year-2000 date-related data, including failures-(A) to deal with or account for transitions or comparisons from, into, and between the years 1999 and 2000 accurately;(B) to recognize or accurately to process any specific date in 1999, 2000, or 2001; or(C) accurately to account for the year 2000's status as a leap year, including recognition and processing of the correct date on February 29, 2000.
- alternative dispute resolution
- The term "alternative dispute resolution" means any process or proceeding, other than adjudication by a court or in an administrative proceeding, to assist in the resolution of issues in controversy, through processes such as early neutral evaluation, mediation, minitrial, and arbitration.
- contract
- The term "contract" means a contract, tariff, license, or warranty.
- material defect
- The term "material defect" means a defect in any item, whether tangible or intangible, or in the provision of a service, that substantially prevents the item or service from operating or functioning as designed or according to its specifications. The term "material defect" does not include a defect that-(A) has an insignificant or de minimis effect on the operation or functioning of an item or computer program;(B) affects only a component of an item or program that, as a whole, substantially operates or functions as designed; or(C) has an insignificant or de minimis effect on the efficacy of the service provided.