H. B. 4654
(By Delegates Fletcher, Anderson, Coleman,
Faircloth, Linch, Capito and Staton)
[Introduced February 24, 2000; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article three-c, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
four-a, relating to making it a felony to knowingly and
willfully disrupt or degrade any computer equipment or
computer data owned by the state of West Virginia or any of
its agencies.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three-c, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section four-a,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3C. WEST VIRGINIA COMPUTER CRIME AND ABUSE ACT.
§61-3C-4a. Willful disruption of state computer equipment or data;
criminal penalties.
Any person who knowingly, willfully and without authorization,
directly or indirectly, disrupts or degrades or causes the
disruption or degradation of any computer, computer data, or
computer system owned by the state of West Virginia or any of its
political subdivisions, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or
confined in a state correctional facility for not more than ten
years, or both fined and confined.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make "hacking" into a
computer or computer system of the state or one of its agencies a
serious offense with meaningful penalties.
§61-3C-4a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.