On December 8, 2008, in Smith v. Zazzle.com Inc., No. 08-22371-CIV-KING, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101050 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 9, 2008) Judge James Lawrence King of the Southern District of Florida held FACTA’s credit card number truncation requirement inapplicable to receipts displayed on-screen or printed by online customers.  Judge King dismissed the case on this basis.  The order contradicts one last year in the same district, Grabein v. 1-800 Flowers Inc., No. 0722235 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 29, 2008) (reported here), but is consistent with three other Southern District of Florida cases: Grabein v. Jupiterimages Corp., No. 07-22288 (S.D. Fla. July 7, 2008), Haslam v. Federated Dep’t Stores Inc., No. 07-61871 (S.D. Fla. May 16, 2008) and Edwin King v. Movietickets.com, No. 07-22119 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 13, 2008).

Judge King’s opinion focused on the meaning of the word “print” in the following FACTA provision: “no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g)(1). Judge King found, based on the ordinary meaning of the word “print,” that Congress intended “print” to mean the “imprinting of something on paper or another tangible surface.” Zazzle.com, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101050 at **7-8.