[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1918 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1918

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for clarification as 
to the meaning of access without authorization, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 21, 2015

 Ms. Lofgren (for herself, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Polis, Mr. Lipinski, 
Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, and Mr. O'Rourke) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for clarification as 
to the meaning of access without authorization, 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 ``Aaron's Law Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFYING THAT ``ACCESS WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION'' UNDER SECTION 
              1030 OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE, MEANS CIRCUMVENTION 
              OF TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS IN ORDER TO GAIN UNAUTHORIZED 
              ACCESS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1030(e)(6) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by--
            (1) striking ``exceeds authorized access'' and all that 
        follows; and
            (2) inserting the following: ```access without 
        authorization' means--
                    ``(A) to obtain information on a protected 
                computer;
                    ``(B) that the accesser lacks authorization to 
                obtain; and
                    ``(C) by knowingly circumventing one or more 
                technological or physical measures that are designed to 
                exclude or prevent unauthorized individuals from 
                obtaining that information;''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1030 of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)(10), by striking ``unauthorized 
        access, or exceeding authorized access, to a'' and inserting 
        ``access without authorization of a protected''; and
            (2) by striking ``exceeds authorized access'' each place it 
        appears.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATING REDUNDANCY.

    (a) Repeal.--Section 1030(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (4); and
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) as 
        paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 1030 of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(a)(6)'' each 
                place it appears and inserting ``(a)(5)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(4) or (a)(7)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(6)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(4), or (a)(7)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(6)''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), in the matter 
                        preceding clause (i), by striking ``subsection 
                        (a)(5)(B)'' and inserting ``subsection 
                        (a)(4)(B)'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(5)(A)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(4)(A)'';
                            (iii) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(5)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(4)'';
                            (iv) in subparagraph (D)(i), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(5)(C)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(4)(C)'';
                            (v) in subparagraph (E), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(5)(A)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(4)(A)'';
                            (vi) in subparagraph (F), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(5)(A)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(4)(A)''; and
                            (vii) in subparagraph (G)(i), by striking 
                        ``subsection (a)(5)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (a)(4)''; and
            (2) in subsection (h), by striking ``subsection (a)(5)'' 
        and inserting ``subsection (a)(4)''.

SEC. 4. MAKING PENALTIES PROPORTIONAL TO CRIMES.

    (a) Section 1030(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by striking ``conviction for another'' and 
                inserting ``subsequent''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``such'' after ``attempt to 
                commit'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting after ``financial 
        gain'' the following: ``and the fair market value of the 
        information obtained exceeds $5,000'';
            (3) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``the offense was 
        committed'' and all that follows through the semicolon, and 
        inserting the following: ``the offense was committed in 
        furtherance of any criminal act in violation of the 
        Constitution or laws of the United States or of any State 
        punishable by a term of imprisonment greater than one year, 
        unless such criminal acts are prohibited by this section or 
        such State violation would be based solely on accessing 
        information without authorization;'';
            (4) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by inserting ``fair market'' 
        before ``value''; and
            (5) in subparagraph (C)--
                    (A) by striking ``conviction for another'' and 
                inserting ``subsequent''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``such'' after ``attempt to 
                commit''.
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