[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1293 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1293

      To criminalize the sending of predatory and abusive e-mail.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 19, 2003

  Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Grassley, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Edwards) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To criminalize the sending of predatory and abusive e-mail.

    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 ``Criminal Spam Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION AGAINST PREDATORY AND ABUSIVE COMMERCIAL E-MAIL.

    (a) Offense.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 47 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        section:
``Sec. 1037. Fraud and related activity in connection with electronic 
              mail
    ``(a) In General.--Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign 
commerce, knowingly--
            ``(1) accesses a protected computer without authorization, 
        and intentionally initiates the transmission of multiple 
        commercial electronic mail messages from or through such 
        computer;
            ``(2) uses a protected computer to relay or retransmit 
        multiple commercial electronic mail messages, with the intent 
        to deceive or mislead recipients, or any Internet access 
        service, as to the origin of such messages;
            ``(3) falsifies header information in multiple commercial 
        electronic mail messages and intentionally initiates the 
        transmission of such messages; or
            ``(4) registers, using information that falsifies the 
        identity of the actual registrant, for 5 or more electronic 
        mail accounts or online user accounts or 2 or more domain 
        names, and intentionally initiates the transmission of multiple 
        commercial electronic mail messages from such accounts or 
        domain names;
or conspires to do so, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Penalties.--The punishment for an offense under subsection 
(a) is--
            ``(1) a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more 
        than 5 years, or both, if--
                    ``(A) the offense is committed in furtherance of 
                any felony under the laws of the United States or of 
                any State; or
                    ``(B) the defendant has previously been convicted 
                under this section or section 1030, or under the law of 
                any State for conduct involving the transmission of 
                multiple commercial electronic mail messages or 
                unauthorized access to a computer system;
            ``(2) a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more 
        than 3 years, or both, if--
                    ``(A) the offense is an offense under subsection 
                (a)(1);
                    ``(B) the offense is an offense under subsection 
                (a)(4) and involved 20 or more falsified electronic 
                mail or online user account registrations, or 10 or 
                more falsified domain name registrations;
                    ``(C) the volume of electronic mail messages 
                transmitted in furtherance of the offense exceeded 
                2,500 during any 24-hour period, 25,000 during any 30-
                day period, or 250,000 during any 1-year period;
                    ``(D) the offense caused loss to 1 or more persons 
                aggregating $5,000 or more in value during any 1-year 
                period;
                    ``(E) as a result of the offense any individual 
                committing the offense obtained anything of value 
                aggregating $5,000 or more during any 1-year period; or
                    ``(F) the offense was undertaken by the defendant 
                in concert with 3 or more other persons with respect to 
                whom the defendant occupied a position of organizer or 
                leader; and
            ``(3) a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more 
        than 1 year, or both, in any other case.
    ``(c) Forfeiture.--A person who is convicted of an offense under 
this section shall forfeit to the United States such person's interest 
in--
            ``(1) any property, real or personal, constituting or 
        traceable to gross profits or other proceeds obtained from such 
        offense; and
            ``(2) any equipment, software, or other technology used or 
        intended to be used to commit or to promote the commission of 
        such offense.
    ``(d) Civil Remedies.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General, or any person 
        engaged in the business of providing an Internet access service 
        to the public aggrieved by reason of a violation of subsection 
        (a), may commence a civil action against the violator in any 
        appropriate United States District Court for the relief set 
        forth in paragraphs (2) and (3). No action may be brought under 
        this subsection unless such action is begun within 2 years of 
        the date of the act which is the basis for the action.
            ``(2) Attorney general action.--In an action by the 
        Attorney General under paragraph (1), the court may award 
        appropriate relief, including temporary, preliminary, or 
        permanent injunctive relief. The court may also assess a civil 
        penalty in an amount not exceeding $25,000 per day of 
        violation, or not less than $2 or more than $8 per electronic 
        mail message initiated in violation of subsection (a), as the 
        court considers just.
            ``(3) Other actions.--In any other action under paragraph 
        (1), the court may award appropriate relief, including 
        temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief, and 
        damages in an amount equal to the greater of--
                    ``(A) the actual damages suffered by the Internet 
                access service as a result of the violation, and any 
                receipts of the violator that are attributable to the 
                violation and are not taken into account in computing 
                actual damages; or
                    ``(B) statutory damages in the sum of $25,000 per 
                day of violation, or not less than $2 or more than $8 
                per electronic mail message initiated in violation of 
                subsection (a), as the court considers just.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Commercial electronic mail message.--The term 
        `commercial electronic mail message' means any electronic mail 
        message the primary purpose of which is the commercial 
        advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service 
        (including content on an Internet website or online site 
        operated for a commercial purpose).
            ``(2) Computer and protected computer.--The terms 
        `computer' and `protected computer' have the meaning given 
        those terms in section 1030(e) of this title.
            ``(3) Domain name.--The term `domain name' means any 
        alphanumeric designation which is registered with or assigned 
        by any domain name registrar, domain name registry, or other 
        domain name registration authority, and that is included in an 
        electronic mail message.
            ``(4) Header information.--The term `header information' 
        means the source, destination, routing information, or 
        information authenticating the sender, associated with an 
        electronic mail message, including but not limited to the 
        originating domain name, originating electronic mail address, 
        information regarding any part of the route that an electronic 
        mail message travels or appears to travel on the Internet or on 
        an online service, or other authenticating information.
            ``(5) Initiate.--The term `initiate' means to originate an 
        electronic mail message or to procure the origination of such 
        message, regardless of whether the message reaches its intended 
        recipients, and does not include the actions of an Internet 
        access service used by another person for the transmission of 
        an electronic mail message for which another person has 
        provided and selected the recipient electronic mail addresses.
            ``(6) Internet access service.--The term `Internet access 
        service' has the meaning given that term in section 231(e)(4) 
        of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(4)).
            ``(7) Loss.--The term `loss' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 1030(e) of this title.
            ``(8) Message.--The term `message' means each electronic 
        mail message addressed to a discrete addressee.
            ``(9) Multiple.--The term `multiple' means more than 100 
        electronic mail messages during a 24-hour period, more than 
        1,000 electronic mail messages during a 30-day period, or more 
        than 10,000 electronic mail messages during a 1-year period.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--The chapter analysis for chapter 
        47 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
        end the following:

``Sec.
``1037. Fraud and related activity in connection with electronic 
                            mail.''.
    (b) United States Sentencing Commission.--
            (1) Directive.--Pursuant to its authority under section 
        994(p) of title 28, United States Code, and in accordance with 
        this section, the United States Sentencing Commission shall 
        review and, as appropriate, amend the sentencing guidelines and 
        policy statements to provide appropriate penalties for 
        violations of section 1037 of title 18, United States Code, as 
        added by this section.
            (2) Requirements.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
        Sentencing Commission shall consider providing sentencing 
        enhancements for those convicted under section 1037 of title 
        18, United States Code, who--
                    (A) obtained electronic mail addresses through 
                improper means, including--
                            (i) harvesting electronic mail addresses of 
                        the users of a website, proprietary service, or 
                        other online public forum operated by another 
                        person, without the authorization of such 
                        person; and
                            (ii) randomly generating electronic mail 
                        addresses by computer; or
                    (B) knew that the commercial electronic mail 
                messages involved in the offense contained or 
                advertised an Internet domain for which the registrant 
                of the domain had provided false registration 
                information.

SEC. 3. REPORT AND SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING INTERNATIONAL SPAM.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Internet is a global communications medium.
            (2) Commercial e-mail sent in violation of this Act can be 
        sent from virtually anywhere in the world.
            (3) As domestic deterrence and enforcement against 
        predatory and abusive commercial e-mail improves, there is a 
        risk that predatory and abusive spammers will move their 
        activities abroad and spam into the United States.
            (4) As with other forms of cyber-crime, international 
        cooperation of law enforcement officials is essential to combat 
        predatory and abusive spam.
    (b) Report.--The Department of Justice and the Department of State 
shall report to Congress within 18 months of the date of enactment of 
this Act regarding the status of their efforts to achieve international 
cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of spammers who engage 
in conduct that violates this Act, including the jurisdictions involved 
and the outcomes of any prosecutions, and any recommendations for 
addressing predatory and abusive spam sent to the United States from 
other countries.
    (c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Department of Justice and the Department of State, as part of their 
efforts to improve investigation and prosecution of international 
cyber-crime, should work through international fora for the cooperation 
of other countries in investigating and prosecuting predatory and 
abusive spammers who engage in conduct that violates this Act.
                                 <all>