The issue focused on damage from economic stress. The federal government had created a legal emergency of $50 billion to deal with both financial and medical losses.

But since its creation, the law has never been fully implemented. Lawmakers have shown little interest in legislation that would address many of the laws being addressed by companies like Amazon.com Inc. or Wal-Mart Stores Inc. — whose practices they say could create severe moral hazard.

In recent months, lawmakers have passed laws dealing with illegal copyright enforcement