HB 491: "An Act relating to unwanted electronic mail and facsimile transmissions; relating to computer crimes; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 491 01 "An Act relating to unwanted electronic mail and facsimile transmissions; relating 02 to computer crimes; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 45.63 is amended by adding new sections to read: 05 Article 2. Electronic Advertising. 06 Sec. 45.63.110. Liability of advertisers and electronic mail service 07 providers for electronic mail advertisements. (a) Except as provided in (d) and (e) 08 of this section, if a person transmits or causes to be transmitted to a recipient an item 09 of electronic mail that includes an advertisement, the advertiser is liable to the 10 recipient for civil damages unless 11 (1) the advertiser has a preexisting business or personal relationship 12 with the recipient; 13 (2) the recipient has expressly consented to receive the item of 14 electronic mail from the advertiser; or
01 (3) the advertisement is readily identifiable as promotional or states that 02 it is an advertisement and clearly and conspicuously provides 03 (A) the legal name, complete street address, and electronic mail 04 address of the person transmitting the electronic mail; 05 (B) a notice that the recipient may decline to receive additional 06 electronic mail that includes an advertisement from the person transmitting the 07 electronic mail; and 08 (C) the procedures for declining the additional electronic mail 09 advertisements. 10 (b) If an advertiser is liable to a recipient under (a) of this section, the 11 recipient may recover from the advertiser actual damages or damages in the amount 12 of $10 for each item of electronic mail received, whichever is greater, and costs and 13 attorney fees as provided in court rules. 14 (c) In addition to any other recovery that is allowed under (b) of this section, 15 the recipient may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining the advertiser from 16 transmitting to the recipient any other item of electronic mail that includes an 17 advertisement. 18 (d) Except for an advertisement prepared or caused to be prepared by the 19 electronic mail service provider itself, a provider is immune from liability for civil 20 damages under this section for the transmission of an advertisement. 21 (e) This section does not apply to an item of electronic mail that a recipient 22 obtains voluntarily, including an item of electronic mail that a recipient obtains from 23 an electronic bulletin board. 24 Sec. 45.63.120. Provider's restriction on use of electronic mail service. (a) 25 A registered user of an electronic mail service may not use or cause to be used the 26 provider's service or equipment in violation of the provider's published policy 27 prohibiting or restricting the use of its service or equipment for the initiation of 28 unsolicited advertisements. 29 (b) A person may not, by initiating an unsolicited advertisement, use or cause 30 to be used the service or equipment of an electronic mail service provider in violation 31 of the provider's published policy prohibiting or restricting the use of its service or
01 equipment to deliver unsolicited advertisements. 02 (c) This section may not be interpreted to require an electronic mail service 03 provider to adopt a policy prohibiting or restricting the use of its service or equipment 04 for the initiation or delivery of unsolicited advertisements. 05 (d) An electronic mail service provider is considered to have published the 06 provider's policy on unsolicited advertisements if the provider 07 (1) makes the policy available on request in written form at no charge 08 to the requester; or 09 (2) displays the policy through an on-line notice on the provider's 10 Internet home page or on a page accessible through a conspicuous link on the 11 provider's Internet home page. 12 (e) A person who violates an electronic mail service provider's published 13 policy on unsolicited advertisements as provided in this section is liable to the provider 14 for the greater of 15 (1) the actual monetary loss suffered by the provider by reason of the 16 violation; or 17 (2) $50 for each electronic mail message initiated or delivered in 18 violation of this section up to a maximum of $15,000 a day. 19 Sec. 45.63.130. Civil liability for computer crimes. (a) In addition to any 20 other civil remedy available, the owner or lessee of the computer, computer system, 21 computer network, computer program, or data may bring a civil action against a person 22 convicted of a computer crime for compensatory damages, including any expenditure 23 reasonably and necessarily incurred by the owner or lessee to verify that a computer, 24 computer system, computer network, computer program, or data was or was not 25 altered, damaged, or deleted by the access. 26 (b) For purposes of an action authorized by AS 45.63.110 - 45.63.200, a parent 27 or legal guardian of an unemancipated minor may be held liable for damages caused 28 by the minor in accordance with AS 34.50.020. 29 (c) A postsecondary educational institution in the state shall include computer 30 crimes as a specific violation of the institution's student conduct policies and 31 regulations that may subject the student to disciplinary sanctions up to and including
01 dismissal from the institution. This subsection does not apply to the University of 02 Alaska unless the Board of Regents adopts a resolution to that effect. 03 (d) For purposes of bringing a civil action under AS 45.63.110 - 45.63.200, 04 a person who causes, by any means, the access of a computer, computer system, or 05 computer network in one jurisdiction from another jurisdiction is considered to have 06 personally accessed the computer, computer system, or computer network in each 07 jurisdiction. 08 Sec. 45.63.200. In AS 45.63.110 - 45.63.200, 09 (1) "advertisement" means an electronic mail message, the principal 10 purpose of which is to promote, directly or indirectly, the sale or other distribution of 11 real property, goods, or services; 12 (2) "advertiser" means a person who transmits or causes to be 13 transmitted to a recipient an item of electronic mail that includes an advertisement; 14 (3) "computer crime" means an offense that was committed by the use 15 of a computer, computer system, or computer network, or that damaged or impaired 16 the use of a computer, computer system, or computer network; 17 (4) "electronic mail" means a message, a file, or other information that 18 is transmitted through a local, regional, or global network, regardless of whether the 19 message, file, or other information is 20 (A) viewed; 21 (B) stored for retrieval at a later time; 22 (C) printed onto paper or other similar material; or 23 (D) filtered or screened by a computer program that is designed 24 or intended to filter or screen items of electronic mail; 25 (5) "electronic mail service provider" or "provider" means a business 26 or organization qualified to do business in the state that provides registered users with 27 the ability to send or receive electronic mail; 28 (6) "initiation" of an unsolicited advertisement refers to the action by 29 the initial sender of the advertisement; it does not refer to the actions of any 30 intervening electronic mail service providers that may handle or retransmit the 31 electronic message;
01 (7) "network" means a network comprised of one or more computers 02 that may be accessed by a modem, electronic or optical technology, or other similar 03 means; 04 (8) "recipient" means a person who receives an item of electronic mail; 05 (9) "registered user" means an individual, corporation, or other person 06 that maintains an electronic mail address with an electronic mail service provider; 07 (10) "unsolicited advertisement" means an electronic mail advertisement 08 that is 09 (A) addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not 10 have an existing business or personal relationship; and 11 (B) not sent at the request of or with the express consent of the 12 recipient. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 11.46.200(a) is amended to read: 14 (a) A person commits theft of services if 15 (1) the person obtains services, known by that person to be available 16 only for compensation, by deception, force, threat, or other means to avoid payment 17 for the services; 18 (2) having control over the disposition of services of others to which 19 the person is not entitled, the person knowingly diverts those services to the person's 20 own benefit or to the benefit of another not entitled to them; or 21 (3) the person obtains the use of computer time, a computer system, a 22 computer program, a computer network, or any part of a computer system or network, 23 with reckless disregard that the use by that person is unauthorized or exceeds the 24 scope of the person's authorization . 25 * Sec. 3. AS 11.46.200 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 26 (d) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under (a)(3) of this section that 27 the defendant, at the time of the offense, was an employee who accessed or used the 28 computer system, computer program, computer network, or data of the person's 29 employer when the person was acting outside the scope of the employee's lawful 30 employment provided the employee's activities did not cause an injury to the employer 31 or to another, or so long as the value of supplies and computer service used did not
01 exceed an accumulated total of $100. 02 * Sec. 4. AS 11.46.482(a) is amended to read: 03 (a) A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the second degree if, 04 having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a 05 right, 06 (1) with intent to damage property of another, the person damages 07 property of another in an amount of $500 or more; 08 (2) the person tampers with an oil or gas pipeline or supporting facility 09 or an airplane or helicopter with reckless disregard for the risk of harm to or loss of 10 the property; [OR] 11 (3) the person recklessly creates a risk of damage in an amount 12 exceeding $100,000 to property of another by the use of widely dangerous means ; or 13 (4) [REPEALED] 14 (5) [REPEALED] 15 (6) the person violates AS 11.46.484(a)(8) and the person has, in the 16 10 years immediately preceding the violation, been convicted of a violation of 17 AS 11.46.484(a)(8) or a similar law or ordinance of another jurisdiction . 18 * Sec. 5. AS 11.46.484(a) is amended to read: 19 (a) A person commits the crime of criminal mischief in the third degree if, 20 having no right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a 21 right 22 (1) with intent to damage property of another, the person damages 23 property of another in an amount of $50 or more but less than $500; 24 (2) [REPEALED] 25 (3) [REPEALED] 26 (4) the person tampers with a fire protection device in a building that 27 is a public place; 28 (5) the person knowingly accesses a computer, computer system, 29 computer program, computer network, or part of a computer system or network; 30 (6) the person uses a device to descramble an electronic signal that has 31 been scrambled to prevent unauthorized receipt or viewing of the signal unless the
01 device is used only to descramble signals received directly from a satellite or unless 02 the person owned the device before September 18, 1984; [OR] 03 (7) the person knowingly removes, relocates, defaces, alters, obscures, 04 shoots at, destroys, or otherwise tampers with an official traffic control device or 05 damages the work upon a highway under construction ; or 06 (8) the person uses the Internet domain name of another person in 07 connection with the sending of one or more electronic mail messages causes the 08 disruption or denial of computer services to an authorized user of the computer, 09 computer system, or computer network . 10 * Sec. 6. AS 11.46.740 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 11.46.740. Criminal use of computer in the first degree . (a) A person 12 commits the offense of criminal use of a computer in the first degree if, having no 13 right to do so or any reasonable ground to believe the person has such a right, or 14 otherwise in excess of the person's valid limited right to do so, the person 15 knowingly accesses or causes to be accessed a computer, computer system, computer 16 program, computer network, or any part of a computer system or network, and , as a 17 result of that access , 18 (1) obtains information concerning a person; [OR] 19 (2) introduces false information into a computer, computer system, or 20 computer network with the intent to damage or enhance the data record of a person ; 21 or 22 (3) knowingly introduces a computer contaminant into the 23 computer, computer system, or computer network . 24 (b) Criminal use of a computer in the first degree is a class C felony. 25 * Sec. 7. AS 11.46.990 is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 26 (14) "computer contaminant" 27 (A) means a set of computer instructions that are designed to 28 modify, damage, destroy, record, or transmit data within a computer, computer 29 system, or computer network without the intent or permission of the owner of 30 the information; 31 (B) includes a group of computer instructions commonly called
01 viruses or worms, which are self-replicating or self-propagating and are 02 designed to contaminate other computer programs or computer data, consume 03 computer resources, modify, damage, destroy, record, or transmit data, or in 04 some other fashion usurp the normal operation of the computer, computer 05 system, or computer network; 06 (15) "electronic mail" has the meaning given in AS 45.63.200; 07 (16) "Internet domain name" means a globally unique, hierarchical 08 reference to an Internet host or service, assigned through centralized Internet naming 09 authorities, comprising a series of character strings separated by periods, with the 10 rightmost character string specifying the top of the hierarchy. 11 * Sec. 8. INSTRUCTION TO THE REVISOR OF STATUTES. (a) In AS 45.63.010(b), 12 45.63.050, 45.63.070, 45.63.080, 45.63.090, and 45.63.100, the revisor of statutes shall replace 13 the phrase "this chapter" with "AS 45.63.010 - 45.63.100." 14 (b) The legislature does not intend the enactment of sec. 1 of this Act to amend the 15 reference to AS 44.63 in AS 45.50.471(b)(35). 16 * Sec. 9. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).