President Barack Obama is expected to sign the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016, aka the Yelp bill, that protects consumers from lawsuits over negative but truthful online reviews of companies. Said Congressman Darrell Issa in a press release, “The bill we’ve now sent to the President’s desk will ensure that the internet remains a place where the freedom of speech can thrive and protect honest consumers from retaliatory litigation.” (The Daily Caller, November 29, 2016, by Robert Donachie)
The bill is a boon for consumer free speech in that it prevents companies from including non-disparagement or gag clauses into their consumer contracts and also includes protection for reviews not posted online. (Android Headlines, November 30, 2016, by Alexander Maxham)
The law does not prevent companies from suing online reviews for defamation, slander or libel but provides that a gag clause is void from the start if it “(1) prohibits or restricts an individual who is a party to such a contract from engaging in written, oral, or pictorial reviews, or other similar performance assessments or analyses of, including by electronic means, the goods, services, or conduct of a person that is also a party to the contract; (2) imposes penalties or fees against individuals who engage in such communications; or (3) transfers or requires the individual to transfer intellectual property rights in review or feedback content (with the exception of a nonexclusive license to use the content) in any otherwise lawful communications about such person or the goods or services provided by such person.”(Broadcasting & Cable, November 29, 2016, by John Eggerton)