H.R. 6822 — Stopping Grinch Bots Act of 2025

This section prohibits any person from circumventing a security measure, access control system, or other technological control on an internet website or online service to enforce posted purchasing limits or manage inventory, or from selling or offering to sell in interstate commerce any product or service obtained in violation if the seller participated in, controlled, or knew or should have known of the violation. It provides exceptions for software or systems used to investigate or enforce violations of the prohibition or other laws, or to conduct research on security flaws to advance computer security knowledge or develop security products. Violations are treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)), enforceable by the FTC using its standard authorities and penalties; state attorneys general may also bring civil actions for injunctions, compliance, and damages or restitution on behalf of state residents (with notice to the FTC, which may intervene, and no state action permitted if the FTC has already sued the same defendant for the same violation); and other authorized state officials may similarly sue.