[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4977 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4977

   To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect the reasonable 
   expectation of privacy of users of e-mail, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2004

    Mr. Nadler (for himself, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Kucinich, and Mrs. 
   Maloney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect the reasonable 
   expectation of privacy of users of e-mail, and for other purposes.

    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 ``E-mail Privacy Protection Act of 
2004''.

SEC. 2. INTERCEPTION OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS DURING TRANSMISSION.

    Section 2510(12) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``and includes any temporary, intermediate storage of that 
communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof,'' 
after ``commerce,''.

SEC. 3. IMPROPER ACQUISITION OF CONTENTS OF STORED ELECTRONIC 
              COMMUNICATIONS BY ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS.

    Section 2701 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(d) Improper Acquisition by Service Provider.--Whoever, being a 
provider of an electronic communication service, or an agent or 
employee of such a provider, acquires or uses the contents of a stored 
electronic communication of which that provider, agent, or employee is 
not an intended recipient other than for the purposes of providing that 
electronic communication service, shall be fined under this title or 
imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.''.
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