H. B. 2627
(By Delegates Mahan, Coleman, Johnson, Pino, Linch, Capito and
Faircloth)
[Introduced February 3, 1999; referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend chapter forty-six a of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six-g, relating to
mailing of unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages as
deceptive and unfair trade practices and establishing
prohibitions relating thereto; defining terms; establishing
that certain internet messages are prohibited under this
article; specifying contents of prohibited messages;
prohibiting misrepresenting or falsifying certain information;
requiring prior approval, certain disclosures or preexisting
relationships for certain messages activities; authorizing
interactive computer services to limit transmissions of any
commercial electronic mail which violates this article;
limiting liability of interactive computer services for terminating service to persons that violate this article; and
establishing a penalty for violations of this article.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter forty-six of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six-g, to read as
follows:
Article 6G. ELECTRONIC MAIL PROTECTION ACT.
§46A-6G-1. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(1) "Commercial electronic mail message" means an electronic
mail message sent for the purpose of promoting property, goods, or
services for sale or lease.
(2) "Electronic mail address" means a destination, commonly
expressed as a string of characters, to which electronic mail may
be sent or delivered.
(3) "Initiate the transmission" means the action by the
original sender of an electronic mail message, not to the action by
any intervening interactive computer service that may handle or
retransmit the message.
(4) "Interactive computer service" means any information
service, system, or access software provider that provides or
enables the computer access by multiple users to a computer server,
including specifically a service or system that provides access to the internet.
(5) "Internet domain name" means a globally unique,
hierarchical reference to an internet host or service, assigned
through centralized internet naming authorities, comprising a
series of character strings separated by periods, with the right- most string specifying the top of the hierarchy.
() "Person" means........?????????
§46A-6G-2. Limitations on unsolicited commercial
electronic mail.
(a) The provisions of this article apply to any person who
initiates a commercial electronic mail message in violation of
subsection (b) of this section in which the person can discern
whether or not the intended recipient of a commercial electronic
mail message is a West Virginia resident, if that information is
available, upon request, from the registrant of the internet domain
name, which is provided in the recipient's electronic mail address,
and the sender initiates the transmission disregarding that it
constitutes a violation of this article.
(b) No person may initiate the transmission of a commercial
electronic mail message from a computer located in the state of
West Virginia or to an electronic mail address that the sender
knows, or has reason to know, is held by a West Virginia resident
that:
(1) Uses a third party's internet domain name without the permission of the third party, or otherwise misrepresents any
information in identifying the point of origin or the transmission
path of a commercial electronic mail message;
(2) Contains false or misleading information in the subject
line;
(3) Does not clearly provide the date and time the message is
sent, the identity of the business, other entity, or individual
sending the message, and the return electronic mail address of such
business, other entity, or individual;
(4) Lacks a preexisting and ongoing business or personal
relationship, unless such individual provides express invitation or
permission to accept electronic mail messages from a particular
business, other entity, or individual sending the message;
(5) Does not provide a toll-free telephone number or a valid
electronic mail address as a means of removal from a particular
electronic mailing list;
(6) Uses a third party's internet domain name without the
permission of the third party, or otherwise misrepresents any
information in identifying the point of origin or the transmission
path of a commercial electronic mail message; or
(7) Contains false or misleading information in the subject
line.
§46A-6G-3. Interactive computer service authority; liability.
(1) An interactive computer service may block the receipt or transmission through its service of any commercial electronic mail
that it reasonably believes is, or will be, sent in violation of
this chapter.
(2) An interactive computer service may disconnect or
terminate the service of any business, other entity, or individual
that is in violation of this chapter.
(3) No interactive computer service may be held liable for
any action voluntarily taken in good faith to block the receipt or
transmission through its service of any commercial electronic mail
which it reasonably believes is, or will be, sent in violation of
this chapter; nor will any interactive computer service be held
liable for any action voluntarily taken in good faith to disconnect
or terminate the service of any business, other entity, or
individual that is in violation of this chapter.
§46A-6G-4. Violations constitute violation of consumer protection
act.
Any violation of section two of this article constitutes an
unlawful act or practice under the provisions of article six,
section one hundred four of this chapter.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to minimize the amount of
unsolicited electronic mail that is sent to electronic mail
recipients, and to prohibit the sending of electronic mail messages
that use a third party's internet domain name without the third
party's permission, misrepresent the messages point of origin, or
contain untrue or misleading information.
This article is new, therefore there are no underlining and
strike-throughs.