H. B. 3217
(By Delegates Mahan and DeLong)
[Introduced
January 9, 2008
; referred to the
Committee on Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §61-8C-6, relating to
designating the state police as administrator of enforcement
of this article for purposes of issuing administrative
subpoenas in suspected cases of child pornography; referencing
applicable federal law regarding administrative subpoenas in
child pornography cases; requiring disclosure by internet
service providers of certain subscriber information; offenses;
penalties; fees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-8C-6, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 8C. FILMING OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT OF MINORS.
§61-8C-6. State Police authority to issue administrative authority to issue administrative subpoenas to internet service
providers in suspected cases of child pornography and
soliciting a minor using a computer; required
disclosures by providers of internet services;
definitions; offenses; penalties.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the West Virginia State Police are hereby designated to
be the state law enforcement agency charged with administering the
issuance of administrative subpoenas in investigations pursuant to
the provisions of section fourteen-b, article three-c, the
provisions of section five, article eight-a, the provisions of
article eight-c of this chapter and state and local law enforcement
investigations of alleged violations of the provisions of Title 18
U.S.C. §§2251, 2252, 2252A and 2260 as such relate to internet
service providers;
(b) A provider of internet service who violates the provisions
of Title 18 U.S.C. §2703 as that provision read as of January 1,
2007, when compliance with an administrative subpoena issued by
the West Virginia State Police pursuant to the provisions of this
section, is sought, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be
punished by a fine of not less than $50.00 or more than $500.00 for
each violation;
(c) In investigating possible violations of the provisions of
this article, section five, article eight-a of this chapter or Title 18 U.S.C. §§2251, 2252, 2252A or 2260, an authorized member
of the state police may, if there is reasonable cause to believe
that an individual subscriber or customer of a provider of internet
service has committed such an offense through the use of the
services of the provider of the internet service, issue a subpoena
to carry out the procedure set forth in Title 18 U.S.C. §2703 to
compel the provider of internet service to provide information
concerning the individual subscriber or customer that the provider
of internet service is required to disclose pursuant to Title 18
U.S.C. §2703.
(d) If a person who has been issued a subpoena pursuant to
this section charges a fee for providing the information, the fee
may not exceed the actual cost for providing the information.
(e) If a person who has been issued a subpoena pursuant to
this section refuses to produce any information that the subpoena
requires, the person who issued the subpoena may apply to the
circuit court of the county in which the offense is believed to
have occurred for the enforcement of the subpoena in the manner
provided by law for the enforcement of a subpoena in a civil
action.
(f) As used in this section, provider of internet service
means any provider who provides subscribers with access to the
internet or an electronic mail address, or both, but does not
include a public library when it is engaged in providing access to
the internet.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill establishes the West Virginia
State Police as the entity which is authorized to issue
administrative subpoenas to internet service providers in cases of
suspected child pornography; to define offenses and set forth
penalties and fees.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.