HBA-EDN H.B. 1963 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1963 By: Hochberg Criminal Jurisprudence 4/17/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, punishment for computer crimes is defined by the amount of loss incurred by a victim or the amount of expenditure required by the victim to verify that a computer was not altered, acquired, damaged, deleted or disrupted by the offense. If damages or losses incurred because of one scheme or continuing course of conduct were aggregated, it would allow for the prosecution of multiple violations to multiple victims when those multiple violations are part of one continuing course of conduct. House Bill 1963 authorizes the aggregation of damages or losses incurred. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1963 amends the Penal Code to provide that for an act constituting breach of computer security in which benefits are obtained, a victim is defrauded or harmed, or property is altered, damaged, or deleted, the bill authorizes the conduct to be considered as one offense and the value of the benefits obtained and of the losses incurred to be aggregated in determining the grade of such an offense. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.