Prohibits a seller of a digital good from advertising or offering for sale a digital good to a puchaser with the terms "buy," "purchase," or any other term which a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good, or alongside an option for a time-limited rental, unless the seller receives at the time of each transaction an affirmative acknowledgment from the purchaser, or the seller provides to the consumer before executing each transaction a clear and conspicuous statement.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8471
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 16, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURDICK -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to disclosures by
sellers of digital goods
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 350-b-2 to read as follows:
3 § 350-b-2. Disclosures required in advertisements of digital goods. 1.
4 For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
5 (a) "Clear and conspicuous" means in a manner that clearly calls
6 attention to the language, such as in larger type than the surrounding
7 text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of
8 the same size, or set off from the surrounding text of the same size by
9 symbols or other marks.
10 (b) "Digital application or game" means any application or game that a
11 person accesses and manipulates using a specialized electronic gaming
12 device, computer, mobile device, tablet, or other device with a display
13 screen, including any add-ons or additional content for that application
14 or game.
15 (c) "Digital audio work" means a work that results from the fixation
16 of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds that are transferred
17 electronically, including prerecorded or live songs, music, readings of
18 books or other written materials, speeches, ringtones, or other sound
19 recording.
20 (d) "Digital audiovisual work" means a series of related images that,
21 when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with
22 accompanying sounds. "Digital audiovisual work" includes motion
23 pictures, musicals, videos, news and entertainment programs, and live
24 events.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11925-01-5
A. 8471 2
1 (e) "Digital book" means a work that is generally recognized in the
2 ordinary and usual sense as a book that is transferred electronically,
3 including a work of fiction or nonfiction.
4 (f) "Digital code" means a code that provides the person that holds
5 the code a right to obtain an additional digital good, a digital audi-
6 ovisual work, digital audio work, or digital book that may be obtained
7 by any means, including tangible forms and electronic mail, regardless
8 of whether the code is designated as song code, video code, or book
9 code. "Digital code" includes codes used to access or obtain any speci-
10 fied digital goods, or any additional digital goods that have been
11 previously purchased, and promotion cards or codes that are purchased by
12 a retailer or other business entity for use by the retailer's or enti-
13 ty's customers.
14 (g) "Digital good" means a digital audiovisual work, digital audio
15 work, digital book, digital code, or digital application or game, wheth-
16 er electronically or digitally delivered or accessed. "Digital good"
17 does not include a cable television service, satellite relay television
18 service, or any other distribution of television, video, or radio
19 service.
20 2. It shall be unlawful for a seller of a digital good to advertise or
21 offer for sale a digital good to a purchaser with the terms "buy,"
22 "purchase," or any other term which a reasonable person would understand
23 to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good, or
24 alongside an option for a time-limited rental, unless either of the
25 following occur:
26 (a) the seller receives at the time of each transaction an affirmative
27 acknowledgment from the purchaser indicating all of the following:
28 (i) that the purchaser is receiving a license to access the digital
29 good;
30 (ii) a complete list of restrictions and conditions of the license;
31 and
32 (iii) that access to the digital good may be unilaterally revoked by
33 the seller if they no longer hold a right to the digital good, if appli-
34 cable; or
35 (b) the seller provides to the consumer before executing each trans-
36 action a clear and conspicuous statement that does both of the follow-
37 ing:
38 (i) states in plain language that "buying" or "purchasing" the digital
39 good is a license; and
40 (ii) includes a hyperlink, QR code, or similar method to access the
41 terms and conditions that provide full details on the license.
42 3. Any affirmative acknowledgment from the purchaser or clear and
43 conspicuous statement pursuant to subdivision two of this section shall
44 be distinct and separate from any other terms and conditions of the
45 transaction that the purchaser acknowledges or agrees to.
46 4. This section does not require a person to download a digital good,
47 or prohibit a person from storing a digital good on a server for access
48 through the internet.
49 5. This section does not apply to any of the following:
50 (a) any subscription-based service that advertises or offers for sale
51 access to any digital good solely for the duration of the subscription;
52 (b) any digital good that is advertised or offered to a person for no
53 monetary consideration; or
54 (c) any digital good that is advertised or offered to a person that
55 the seller cannot revoke access to after the transaction, which includes
56 making the digital good available at the time of purchase for permanent
A. 8471 3
1 offline download to an external storage source to be used without a
2 connection to the internet.
3 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
4 have become a law.
