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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 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) materially falsifies header information in multiple
commercial electronic mail messages and intentionally initiates
the transmission of such messages,
(4) registers, using information that materially falsifies the
identity of the actual registrant, for five or more electronic
mail accounts or online user accounts or two or more domain
names, and intentionally initiates the transmission of multiple
commercial electronic mail messages from any combination of such
accounts or domain names, or
(5) falsely represents oneself to be the registrant or the
legitimate successor in interest to the registrant of 5 or more
Internet Protocol addresses, and intentionally initiates the
transmission of multiple commercial electronic mail messages from
such addresses,
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 one 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 three 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. -
(1) In general. - The court, in imposing sentence on a person
who is convicted of an offense under this section, shall order
that the defendant forfeit to the United States -
(A) any property, real or personal, constituting or traceable
to gross proceeds obtained from such offense; and
(B) any equipment, software, or other technology used or
intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission
of such offense.
(2) Procedures. - The procedures set forth in section 413 of
the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853), other than
subsection (d) of that section, and in Rule 32.2 of the Federal
Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall apply to all stages of a
criminal forfeiture proceeding under this section.
(d) Definitions. - In this section:
(1) Loss. - The term "loss" has the meaning given that term in
section 1030(e) of this title.
(2) Materially. - For purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4) of
subsection (a), header information or registration information is
materially falsified if it is altered or concealed in a manner
that would impair the ability of a recipient of the message, an
Internet access service processing the message on behalf of a
recipient, a person alleging a violation of this section, or a
law enforcement agency to identify, locate, or respond to a
person who initiated the electronic mail message or to
investigate the alleged violation.
(3) 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.
(4) Other terms. - Any other term has the meaning given that
term by section 3 of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.".
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