[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3716 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3716

  To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a defense against 
    certain criminal prosecutions for interactive computer service 
                               providers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2002

Mr. Goodlatte introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide a defense against 
    certain criminal prosecutions for interactive computer service 
                               providers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Online Criminal Liability 
Standardization Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. LIABILITY LIMITATION APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN CRIMINAL 
              PROSECUTIONS RELATING TO INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 25. Liability limitation applicable to certain prosecutions 
              relating to interactive computer services
    ``(a) Except as provided in this section, notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, no interactive computer service provider, or 
corporate officer of such provider, shall be liable for an offense 
against the United States arising from such provider's transmitting, 
storing, distributing, or otherwise making available, in the ordinary 
course of its business activities as an interactive computer service 
provider, material provided by another person.
    ``(b)(1) The liability limitation created by this section does not 
apply if the defendant intended that the service be used in the 
commission of the offense.
    ``(2) A corporation that is a provider of an interactive computer 
service does not have the intent described in paragraph (1) unless--
            ``(A) an employee or agent of the corporation has the 
        intent described in paragraph (1); and
            ``(B) the conduct of the employee or agent constituting the 
        offense was authorized, requested, commanded, performed, or 
        tolerated with actual knowledge of that conduct by one or more 
        members of the board of directors or by a high managerial agent 
        acting for the benefit of the corporation within the scope of 
        the director's or high managerial agent's office or employment.
    ``(c) As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `interactive computer service' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 230(f) of the Communications 
        Act of 1934; and
            ``(2) the term `high managerial agent' means an individual 
        who has a substantial role in the making of policy for a 
        corporation, including an executive officer of the corporation, 
        an individual with a substantial ownership interest in the 
        corporation, and an individual in charge of major business or 
        functional unit of the corporation, such as sales, 
        administration, or finance.
    ``(d) Nothing in this section may be construed to apply to an 
offense under section 2319 or 2319A of this title.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item:

``25. Liability limitation applicable to certain prosecutions relating 
                            to interactive computer services.''.
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