WASHINGTON—Another organized retail crime bill was introduced into Congress last month, making it the fourth such bill in front of legislators. The Organized Retail Crime Prevention and Enforcement Act of 2009 (sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX21)), or HR 4011, was introduced in the House on Nov. 3 and is aimed at amending existing federal offenses regarding the transportation and sale of stolen goods.

Specifically, it would change current law to encompass those organized retail crimes where the intent is to resell goods on an “online marketplace” and it would lower the threshold for triggering federal law from $5,000 to $1,000. Further, it would broaden the definition of Web sites affected by law to include sites like Craigslist, which have much less oversight of those who sell goods there, and it would create a task force to investigate organized retail crime, funded with $5 million in federal dollars for each of the next five years.

It would not, however, put any new burdens on the online marketplaces themselves or require any new oversight on the part of the Web site operators.

The bill is currently in front of the House Committee on the Judiciary.

John Emling, senior vice president for government affairs for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said that lowering the dollar amount of what constitutes an organized retail crime will hopefully dissuade criminals from turning online to sell stolen goods. “We hope from the point of view of the perpetrators that this is a disincentive to continue selling stolen products online and becomes a deterrent factor by lowering the threshold,” he said.

He also tried to ease concern from online providers about how this legislation would impact their business. “In no way, shape or form would this impede their business plan,” said Emling. “We’re asking that there be greater cooperation and be more proactive in identifying nefarious activity done in the online marketplace.”

The definition of ORC in HR 4011 amends the federal criminal code to define an online marketplace as “an Internet site, or collection of Internet sites with a common operator, whose primary purpose is to facilitate transactions between people for the sale of goods and services.” The definition of this term is broader than the definitions in competing bills, and would include Web sites such as Craigslist, according to RILA. 

“There’s some very disturbing practices occurring with online providers that’s created a greater awareness of the lack of oversight,” said Emling. “There’s a degree of anonymity that [individuals can operate under] on online sites and it’s this anonymity that makes online transactions beneficial to folks boosting stolen goods.”

Paul Jones, global director of retail partnerships for eBay, in an email statement to SDH said that if passed, HR 4011 woudl be a step forward in the battle against ORC. "EBay has consistently supported responsible and balanced efforts to empower law enforcement to more effectively target criminals and combat retail crime," he wrote. "At an early November Congressional hearing on organized retail crime, several law enforcement witnesses noted that the current criminal laws are largely sufficient to investigate ORC cases. These witnesses noted that additional resources for investigations would be most helpful to combat these crimes."

While all four of these bills address ORC in a slightly different perspective, they are all “one side of the same coin and all identify ORC as a huge and growing problem,” Emling said. He said it is a strong possibility that the four bills in Congress could be merged into one or attached to another bill for passage through the House and Senate. However, due to the large number of bills currently facing Congress and only a few weeks left in the Congressional calendar, Emling said he was doubtful that any of these bills would experience movement until 2010.