Chapter 583

2006 -- H 6811

Enacted 07/14/06

A N A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES

Introduced By: Representatives Kennedy, Lewiss, San Bento, Costantino, and E Coderre

Date Introduced: January 17, 2006

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 11 of the General Laws entitled "Criminal Offenses" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 52.2

SOFTWARE FRAUD

11-52.2-1. Definitions. – As used in this chapter:

(1) "Advertisement" means a communication, the purpose of which is the promotion of a

commercial product or service, including a communication on an internet website that is operated

for a commercial purpose.

(2) "Computer software" means a sequence of instructions written in any programming

language that is executed on a computer. "Computer software" does not include computer

software that is a web page, or are data components of web pages that are not executable

independently of the web page.

(3) "Computer virus" means a computer program or other set of instructions that is

designed to degrade the performance of or disable a computer or computer network and is

designed to have the ability to replicate itself on other computers or computer networks without

the authorization of the owners of those computers or computer networks.

(4) "Damage" means any significant impairment to the integrity or availability of data,

computer software, a system, or information.

(5) "Execute" means the performance of the functions or the carrying out of the

instructions of the computer software.

(6) "Intentionally deceptive" means any of the following:

(a) An intentionally and materially false or fraudulent statement;

(b) A statement or description that intentionally omits or misrepresents material

information in order to deceive an owner or operator; and

(c) An intentional and material failure to provide any notice to an owner or operator

regarding the installation or execution of computer software in order to deceive the owner or

operator.

(7) "Internet" means the global information system that is logically linked together by a

globally unique address space based on the internet protocol (IP), or it is subsequent extensions,

and that is able to support communications using the transmission control protocol/internet

protocol (TCP/IP) suite, or its subsequent extensions, or other IP-compatible protocols, and that

provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on the

communications and related infrastructure described in this subsection.

(8) "Owner or operator" means the owner or lessee of a computer, or someone using such

computer with the owner's or lessee's authorization. "Owner or operator" does not include any

person who owns a computer before the first retail sale of such computer.

(9) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or

other organization, or any combination thereof.

(10) "Personally identifiable information" means any of the following with respect to an

individual who is an owner or operator:

(a) First name or first initial in combination with last name;

(b) A home or other physical address including street name;

(c) An electronic mail address;

(d) A credit or debit card number, bank account number, or a password or access code

associated with a credit or debit card or bank account;

(e) Social security number, tax identification number, driver's license number, passport

number, or any other government-issued identification number; and

(f) Any of the following information in a form that personally identifies an owner or

operator:

(i) Account balances;

(ii) Overdraft history; and

(iii) Payment history.

(11) "Transmit" means to transfer, send, or make available computer software, or any

component thereof, via the internet or any other medium, including local area networks of

computers, other nonwire transmission, and disc or other data storage device. "Transmit" does

not include any action by a person providing:

(a) The internet connection, telephone connection, or other means of transmission

capability such as a compact disk or digital video disk through which the software was made

available; or

(b) The storage or hosting of the software program or a web page through which the

software was made available.

11-52.2-2. Unlawful modification of computer settings. – It is unlawful for a person

who is not an owner or operator to transmit computer software to the owner or operator's

computer with actual knowledge or with conscious avoidance of actual knowledge and to use

such software to do any of the following:

(1) Modify, through intentionally deceptive means, settings that control any of the

following:

(a) The page that appears when an owner or operator launches an internet browser or

similar computer software used to access and navigate the internet;

(b) The default provider or web proxy the owner or operator uses to access or search the

internet; and

(c) The owner or operator's list of bookmarks used to access web pages;

(2) Collect, through intentionally deceptive means, personally identifiable information:

(a) Through the use of a keystroke-logging function that records all keystrokes made by

an owner or operator and transfers that information from the computer to another person;

(b) In a manner that correlates such information with data respecting all or substantially

all of the websites visited by an owner or operator, other than websites operated by the person

collecting such information; and

(c) Described in subsection (10)(d), (e), or (f)(i) or (ii) of section 11-52.2-1 by extracting

the information from the owner or operator's hard drive;

(3) Prevent, through intentionally deceptive means, an owner or operator's reasonable

efforts to block the installation or execution of, or to disable, computer software by causing the

software that the owner or operator has properly removed or disabled automatically to reinstall or

reactive on the computer;

(4) Intentionally misrepresent that the computer software will be uninstalled or disabled

by an owner or operator's action; and

(5) Through intentionally deceptive means, remove, disable, or render inoperative

security, antispyware, or antivirus computer software installed on the computer.

11-52.2-3. Unlawful control of a computer. – It is unlawful for a person who is not an

owner or operator to transmit computer software to the owner or operator's computer with actual

knowledge or with conscious avoidance of actual knowledge and to use the software to do any of

the following:

(1) Take control of the computer by:

(a) Accessing or using the modem or internet service for such computer to cause damage

to the computer or cause an owner or operator to incur financial charges for a service that is not

authorized by the owner or operator;

(b) Opening multiple, sequential, stand-alone advertisements in the owner or operator's

internet browser without the authorization of an owner or operator and that a reasonable computer

user cannot close without turning off the computer or closing the internet browser;

(2) Modify any of the following settings related to the computer's access to, or use of, the

internet:

(a) Settings that protect information about the owner or operator in order to steal the

owner or operator's personally identifiable information; and

(b) Security settings in order to cause damage to a computer; and

(3) Prevent an owner or operator's reasonable efforts to block the installation of, or to

disable, computer software by doing any of the following:

(a) Presenting the owner or operator with an option to decline installation of computer

software with knowledge that, when the option is selected, the installation nevertheless proceeds;

and

(b) Falsely representing that computer software has been disabled.

11-52.2-4. Deceptive sale of software. – It is unlawful for a person who is not an owner

or operator to do any of the following with regard to the owner or operator's computer:

(1) Induce an owner or operator to install a computer software component onto the

computer by intentionally misrepresenting the extent to which installing the software is necessary

for security or privacy reasons or in order to open, view, or play a particular type of content; and

(2) Deceptively cause the execution on the computer of a computer software component

with the intent of causing an owner or operator to use the component in a manner that violates

any other provision of this section.

11-52.2-5. Exemptions. – Section 11-52.2-3 or 11-52.2-4 does not apply to any

monitoring of, or interaction with, a subscriber's internet or other network connection or service,

or a computer, by a telecommunications carrier, cable operator, computer hardware or software

provider, or provider of information service or interactive computer service for network or

computer security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, maintenance, repair, authorized

updates of software or system firmware, authorized remote system management, or detection or

prevention of the unauthorized use of a fraudulent or other illegal activities in connection with a

network, service, or computer software, including scanning for and removing software under this

chapter.

11-52.2-6. Civil action. – (1) A person who is injured under this chapter may bring a

civil action in the superior court to enjoin further violations, or to seek up to one thousand dollars

($1,000) per violation, or actual damages, whichever is greater. The injured individuals may

bring their cause of action as a class action. Nothing in this section prohibits the attorney general

from bringing a class action suit under section 6-13.1-5.

(2) In an action under subsection (1) of this section, a court may increase the damages up

to three (3) times the damages allowed by subsection (1) of this section if the defendant has

engaged in a pattern and practice of violating this chapter. The court may also award costs and

reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party.

11-52.2-7. Legislative intent. – It is the intent of the legislature that this chapter is a

matter of statewide concern. This chapter supersedes and preempts all rules, regulations, codes,

ordinances, and other laws adopted by a city, county, city and county, municipality, or local

agency regarding spyware and notices to consumers from computer software providers regarding

information collection.

11-52.2-8. Severability. – If any one or more sections, clauses, sentences or parts of this

chapter shall for any reason be adjudged unconstitutional or otherwise invalid in any court, that

judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remaining provisions of this chapter but shall

be confined in its operation to the specific provisions so held unconstitutional or invalid and the

inapplicability or invalidity of any section, clause or provisions of this chapter in any one or more

instances or circumstances shall not be taken to affect or prejudice in any way its applicability or

validity in any other instance.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC00417

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