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HR 5499 113th Congress House

Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2014

Official title: To prohibit contracts that prohibit consumers from making certain public comments on businesses.

Introduced: September 16, 2014 See on congress.gov
Commerce Civil actions and liabilityCompetition and antitrustConsumer affairsContracts and agency
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First Amendment rightsIntellectual propertyLicensing and registrationsPerformance measurement
This bill died when the 113th Congress ended
It never became law before the 113th Congress (2013–2014) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 19, 2014
Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
Sep 16, 2014
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Sep 16, 2014
Introduced in House
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 Latest action September 19, 2014

Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2014 - Declares a provision of a form contract to be void from the inception if it: (1) prohibits or restricts a person who is a party to the contract from engaging in written, verbal, or pictorial reviews, or other similar performance assessments or analyses of, the products, services, or conduct of a business that is a party to the contract; (2) imposes penalties or fees against such a person for engaging in such communications; or (3) assigns or provides an exclusive license, or requires such a person to assign or provide an exclusive license, to any of the person's intellectual property rights in such communications. (Thus, bars certain contract provisions that prohibit consumers from commenting publicly about businesses.)

Sets forth exceptions under which a provision shall not be considered void under this Act if the provision prohibits disclosure of certain: (1) trade secrets or commercial or financial information, (2) personnel and medical files, or (3) law enforcement records.

Provides for this Act to be inapplicable to contracts establishing an employer-employee or independent contractor relationship.

Prohibits businesses from offering or entering into form contracts containing a provision that is considered void under this Act. Treats violations by businesses as unfair or deceptive acts or practices under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Sets forth authority for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general to enforce such violations.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 5499: Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2014. 113th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-5499/
MLA
"H.R. 5499: Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2014." 113th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-5499/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 5499, 113th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-5499/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 5499: Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2014](https://openamerica.io/bill/113-HR-5499/)
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