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78R1946 RCJ-D
By: Menendez H.B. No. 519
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to unsolicited commercial electronic mail; providing
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 4, Business & Commerce Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 46 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 46. COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES
Sec. 46.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commercial electronic mail message" means an
electronic mail message sent to promote property or services for
sale or lease.
(2) "Electronic mail address" means a destination,
commonly expressed as a string of characters, to which electronic
mail may be sent or delivered.
(3) "Interactive computer service" has the meaning
assigned by Section 35.101.
(4) "Internet domain name" refers to a globally
unique, hierarchical reference to an Internet host or service,
assigned through a centralized Internet naming authority and
composed of a series of character strings separated by periods with
the right-most string specifying the top of the hierarchy.
(5) "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by
Section 43.25, Penal Code.
(6) "Unsolicited commercial electronic mail message"
means a commercial electronic mail message that is addressed to a
recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing
business or personal relationship and that is not sent at the
request of or with the consent of the recipient.
Sec. 46.002. CERTAIN ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES PROHIBITED.
(a) A person may not take any action to send to an electronic mail
address that the sender knows, or has reason to know, is held by a
resident of this state a commercial electronic mail message that:
(1) uses another person's Internet domain name without
that person's permission or otherwise misrepresents any
information in identifying the point of origin or the transmission
path of the message; or
(2) contains false or misleading information in the
subject line.
(b) For purposes of this section, a person knows that the
intended recipient of a commercial electronic mail message is a
resident of this state if that information is available, on
request, from the registrant of the Internet domain name contained
in the recipient's electronic mail address.
Sec. 46.003. UNSOLICITED ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES. (a) A
person may not take any action to send an unsolicited commercial
electronic mail message unless:
(1) "ADV" or "ADVERTISEMENT" is used as the first word
on the subject line or, if the message contains material depicting
sexual conduct, "ADV-ADULT" or "ADVERTISEMENT-ADULT" is used as the
first word on the subject line; and
(2) the name, the address, and a toll-free telephone
number or valid electronic mail address of the initiator appears in
the body of the message, enabling the recipient to contact and
request removal from the initiator's electronic mail list.
(b) A person who initiates a commercial electronic mail
message or a person acting on behalf of the initiator may not send a
commercial electronic mail message to a recipient who has requested
removal from the initiator's electronic mail list.
Sec. 46.004. APPLICABILITY. Sections 46.002 and 46.003 do
not apply to an action by an intervening interactive computer
service that handles or retransmits the message, unless the service
assists in transmitting an electronic mail message when the service
knows or is consciously indifferent to the fact that the person
sending the message is engaged or intends to engage in an act or
practice that violates this chapter.
Sec. 46.005. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A person who violates
Section 46.002 or 46.003 is liable to the state for a civil penalty
in an amount not to exceed $500 for each violation. For purposes of
imposing the penalty, each occurrence in which a person who is a
resident of this state receives an electronic mail message that
violates the applicable section is a separate violation.
(b) The attorney general or the prosecuting attorney in the
county in which the violation occurs may bring suit to recover the
civil penalty imposed under Subsection (a).
Sec. 46.006. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person:
(1) has been assessed a civil penalty for a violation
of Section 46.002 or 46.003; and
(2) subsequently violates either one of those
sections.
(b) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class B
misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
SECTION 3. Chapter 46, Business & Commerce Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to an electronic mail message that is sent on
or after September 1, 2003.