15 U.S.C. § 6612 : US Code - Section 6612: State of mind; bystander liability; control

Search 15 U.S.C. § 6612 : US Code - Section 6612: State of mind; bystander liability; control

(a) Defendant's state of mind
In a Y2K action other than a claim for breach or repudiation of
contract, and in which the defendant's actual or constructive
awareness of an actual or potential Y2K failure is an element of
the claim, the defendant is not liable unless the plaintiff
establishes that element of the claim by the standard of evidence
under applicable State law in effect on the day before January 1,
1999.
(b) Limitation on bystander liability for Y2K failures
(1) In general
With respect to any Y2K action for money damages in which -
(A) the defendant is not the manufacturer, seller, or
distributor of a product, or the provider of a service, that
suffers or causes the Y2K failure at issue;
(B) the plaintiff is not in substantial privity with the
defendant; and
(C) the defendant's actual or constructive awareness of an
actual or potential Y2K failure is an element of the claim
under applicable law,
the defendant shall not be liable unless the plaintiff, in
addition to establishing all other requisite elements of the
claim, proves, by the standard of evidence under applicable State
law in effect on the day before January 1, 1999, that the
defendant actually knew, or recklessly disregarded a known and
substantial risk, that such failure would occur.
(2) Substantial privity
For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), a plaintiff and a defendant
are in substantial privity when, in a Y2K action arising out of
the performance of professional services, the plaintiff and the
defendant either have contractual relations with one another or
the plaintiff is a person who, prior to the defendant's
performance of such services, was specifically identified to and
acknowledged by the defendant as a person for whose special
benefit the services were being performed.
(3) Certain claims excluded
For purposes of paragraph (1)(C), claims in which the
defendant's actual or constructive awareness of an actual or
potential Y2K failure is an element of the claim under applicable
law do not include claims for negligence but do include claims
such as fraud, constructive fraud, breach of fiduciary duty,
negligent misrepresentation, and interference with contract or
economic advantage.
(c) Control not determinative of liability
The fact that a Y2K failure occurred in an entity, facility,
system, product, or component that was sold, leased, rented, or
otherwise within the control of the party against whom a claim is
asserted in a Y2K action shall not constitute the sole basis for
recovery of damages in that action. A claim in a Y2K action for
breach or repudiation of contract for such a failure is governed by
the terms of the contract.
(d) Protections of the Year 2000 Information and Readiness
Disclosure Act apply
The protections for the exchanges of information provided by
section 4 of the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act
(Public Law 105-271) shall apply to any Y2K action.