79R5661 CLG-F
By: McCall H.B. No. 1098
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to using the Internet to obtain identifying information of
another person for a fraudulent purpose; 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 48 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 48. INTERNET FRAUD
Sec. 48.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the
Anti-Phishing Act.
Sec. 48.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Electronic mail" means a message, file, or other
information that is transmitted through a local, regional, or
global computer network, regardless of whether the message, file,
or other information is viewed, stored for retrieval at a later
time, printed, or filtered by a computer program that is designed or
intended to filter or screen those items.
(2) "Electronic mail address" means a destination,
commonly expressed as a string of characters, to which electronic
mail may be sent or delivered.
(3) "Identifying information" has the meaning
assigned by Section 32.51, Penal Code.
(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) "Web page" means a location that has a single
uniform resource locator (URL) with respect to the world wide web or
another location that can be accessed on the Internet.
Sec. 48.003. CREATION OF WEB PAGE OR DOMAIN NAME FOR
FRAUDULENT PURPOSES. A person may not, with the intent to engage in
conduct involving the fraudulent use or possession of another
person's identifying information:
(1) create a web page or Internet domain name that is
represented as a legitimate online business without the express
authority of the registered owner of the business; and
(2) use that web page or a link to the web page, that
domain name, or another site on the Internet to induce, request, or
solicit another person to provide identifying information for a
purpose that the other person believes is legitimate.
Sec. 48.004. ELECTRONIC MAIL FRAUD. A person may not, with
the intent to engage in conduct involving the fraudulent use or
possession of identifying information, send or cause to be sent to
an electronic mail address held by a resident of this state an
electronic mail message that:
(1) is falsely represented as being sent by a
legitimate online business;
(2) refers or links the recipient of the message to a
web page that is represented as being associated with the
legitimate online business; and
(3) directly or indirectly induces, requests, or
solicits the recipient of the electronic mail message to provide
identifying information for a purpose that the recipient believes
is legitimate.
Sec. 48.005. CIVIL RELIEF. (a) The following persons may
bring a civil action against a person who violates this chapter:
(1) a person engaged in the business of providing
Internet access service to the public who is adversely affected by
the violation;
(2) an owner of a web page or trademark who is
adversely affected by the violation; or
(3) the attorney general.
(b) A person bringing an action under this section may:
(1) seek injunctive relief to restrain the violator
from continuing the violation;
(2) recover damages in an amount equal to the greater
of:
(A) actual damages arising from the violation; or
(B) $500,000 for each violation of the same
nature; or
(3) both seek injunctive relief and recover damages as
provided by this subsection.
(c) The court may increase an award of actual damages in an
action brought under this section to an amount not to exceed three
times the actual damages sustained if the court finds that the
violations have occurred with a frequency as to constitute a
pattern or practice.
(d) A plaintiff who prevails in an action filed under this
section is entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees and court
costs.
(e) For purposes of this section, violations are of the same
nature if the violations consist of the same course of conduct or
action, regardless of the number of times the conduct or act
occurred.
Sec. 48.006. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person violates this chapter.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under
this section is a state jail felony.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant
has been previously convicted under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 48.004, Business & Commerce Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to an electronic mail message that
is sent on or after September 1, 2005.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
Amend H.B. 1098 as follows:
On page 3, line 18, before "for each violation of the same"
strike "$500,000" and add "$100,000".
Hunter