BILL NUMBER: SB 1173 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 860
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 25, 1998
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 24, 1998
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 1998
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 17, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 3, 1997
INTRODUCED BY Senators Vasconcellos and Kopp and Assembly Members
Alquist and Honda
FEBRUARY 28, 1997
An act to add Title 17 (commencing with Section 3269) to Part 4 of
Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to liability, and declaring
the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1173, Vasconcellos. Liability: disclosure of Year 2000
information.
Existing law provides that an obligation arises either from a
contract or from the operation of law. An obligation arising from
operation of law may be enforced in the manner provided by law or by
a civil action. Existing law provides governmental entities with
limited immunity from liability for injuries, however, that immunity
does not extend to liability based on contract or to obtain relief
other than money damages.
This bill would provide immunity from liability for tort damages
to any person or entity, including governmental entities, for injury
resulting from the gratuitous disclosure of information relating to
the Year 2000 Problem, as defined, affecting computer systems and
programs, as specified. The bill would not, however, limit liability
for those persons or entities that provide Year 2000 solutions for
profit, as specified; nor would it affect any other remedy available
at law.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The "Year 2000 Problem," characterized by the failure of
computers to function because they are programmed to recognize the
year using the last two digits and may be unable to recognize dates
after December 31, 1999, threatens potential catastrophe and poses a
substantial risk to the welfare of the citizens, businesses, and
government of California.
(b) Massive efforts are underway in both the public and private
sectors to prepare all "mission critical" computer systems to
recognize the year 2000, thereby protecting against computer failures
that could jeopardize our public safety, our economic health, our
ready access to electricity and water, our medical care, and numerous
other essential goods and services.
(c) The free flow of information about solutions to the Year 2000
Problem among public and private entities and individuals is
essential to our collective efforts to achieve Year 2000 Problem
compliance and minimize the risks associated with Year 2000 Problem
failures.
(d) Businesses and individuals are reluctant to share information
relating to the Year 2000 Problem due to concerns that the
information, although shared in good faith, may be used or applied
incorrectly or include unintended inaccuracies that may lead to
costly legal complications.
(e) The federal Department of Justice Antitrust Division has
informed publicly traded corporations that sharing data with one
another regarding the Year 2000 Problem should not be considered an
antitrust issue.
(f) The federal Securities and Exchange Commission is requiring
broker-dealers to submit information on where they are in the Year
2000 Problem compliance process in two reports on August 31, 1998,
and April 30, 1999.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure a free flow
of information about Year 2000 Problem remediation efforts by
creating a safe harbor for individuals and public and private
entities that share, in good faith, information about their
preparations for Year 2000 Problem compliance.
SEC. 3. Title 17 (commencing with Section 3269) is added to Part 4
of Division 3 of the Civil Code, to read:
TITLE 17. YEAR 2000 INFORMATION DISCLOSURES
3269. For purposes of this title, the following definitions shall
apply:
(a) "Year 2000 Problem" means any expected or actual computing,
physical, enterprise, or distribution system complications that may
occur in any computer system, computer program, software application,
embedded systems, embedded chip calculations, or other computing
application as a result of the year change from 1999 to 2000. These
complications are often associated with the common programming
practice of using a two-digit field to represent a year, resulting in
erroneous date calculations, an ambiguous interpretation of the term
"00," the failure to recognize the year 2000 as a leap year, the use
of algorithms that use the year "99" or "00" as a flag for another
function, or the use of applications, software, or hardware that are
date sensitive.
(b) "Information" means any assessment, projection, estimate,
planning document, objective, timetable, test plan, test date, or
test result related to the implementation or verification of Year
2000 Problem processing capabilities of a computer system, computer
program, software application, embedded systems, embedded chip
calculations, or other computing application and intended to solve a
year 2000 Problem.
(c) "Disclosure" and "discloses" means any dissemination or
provision of information without any expectation or right to
remuneration or fee therefor.
(d) "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership,
business entity, joint venture, association, the State of California
or any of its subdivisions, or any other organization or any
combination thereof.
3270. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, any person that
discloses information regarding the Year 2000 Problem or any
potential solutions to the problem, including, but not limited to,
those persons described in subdivision (b), shall not be liable for
damages in any tort action brought against that person regarding the
Year 2000 Problem for any injury caused by, arising out of, or
relating to, the use of the information disclosed, except as provided
in Section 3271.
(b) This section shall apply to any person that, when making the
disclosures described in subdivision (a), specifically disclaims the
universal applicability of the potential solutions disclosed, and
expresses a unique experience with any Year 2000 information.
(c) This section does not apply to prospective solutions sold or
exchanged for profit or provided for profit by a person or entity
holding itself out as a provider of Year 2000 solutions.
3271. (a) Section 3270 shall not apply if the claimant in an
action described in that section establishes that the Year 2000
Problem information disclosure was all of the following:
(1) Material.
(2) False, inaccurate, or misleading.
(3) Either (A) made with the knowledge that the statement was
false, inaccurate, or misleading, (B) if the information disclosed
was a republication of or otherwise a repetition of information from
another person, made without a disclosure that the information was
based on information supplied by another person or made with the
knowledge that the statement was false, inaccurate, or misleading, or
(C) made with gross negligence in the determination of the truth or
accuracy of the disclosure or in the determination of whether the
disclosure was misleading.
(b) Nothing in this title shall be deemed to affect any other
remedy available at law, including, but not limited to, temporary or
permanent injunctive relief, against a public or private entity or
individual with respect to Year 2000 Problem information disclosures.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to significantly reduce the risks posed to the livelihood
of Californians, the ability of industry to conduct business in the
state, and the state to mitigate possible systems failures due to the
Year 2000 Problem, as defined in this act, that would damage the
state's ability to do business with and provide for its citizens, it
is necessary that this act take effect immediately.