NY State Senate Bill 2015-S8174

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Aug 03, 2016	referred to rules

co-Sponsors

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §65.10, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: S2652
2019-2020: S1984

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits sex offenders from playing augmented reality games.

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S8174

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to
prohibiting sex offenders from playing augmented reality games

 PURPOSE :

This bill will create a new class of digital games in the penal law,
and will prevent sex offenders under supervision pursuant to penal law
65.10 from playing such games.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1: Adds accessing an augmented reality game to the activities
which sex offenders are prohibiting from engaging in when under a
sentence of probation or conditional discharge.  Defines augmented
reality games.

Section 2: The act shall take effect 60 days after it becomes law.

 EXISTING LAW :

Under current law, augmented reality games are not defined, and sex
offenders are not explicitly prohibited from accessing them while on
probation or conditional discharge.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Augmented reality games are a new class of games that allow users to
engage in scenarios that combine elements of the real world with
fictional elements which are part of the game. These games are often
played on smartphones and tablets, as they usually require the user to
move around from place to place to satisfy certain in-game objectives.

Some of these games, such as the massively popular "Pokemon GO" are
like modern scavenger hunts. They send a user outside his/her home to
real-world locations in order to find rare characters/items to gain
more power within the game. Pokemon GO is the first massively popular
augmented reality game, and within less than a month of its
publishing, has garnered 30 million downloads between the iOS and
Google Play app stores.

However, because both children and adults are encouraged to play these
games, (Pokemon GO lists its target audience as all those over ten
years of age), there are inherent risks for unsupervised children.
The IDC has conducted an investigation that has revealed valuable
in-game objectives on the property of sex offenders' residences. It
also discovered at least one instance where a known sex offender was
playing the game with a child in public.

Certain sex offenders, while on probation or conditional discharge,
are prohibited from engaging in certain high-risk activities that
could endanger youth or encourage the sex offender's illegal behavior.
These activities include accessing social networking websites,
accessing pornographic material, etc. The usage of augmented reality
games, as they become more popular, could expose these dangerous sex
offenders to children as both the children and sex offenders are
encouraged to congregate at the same locations in the game and
interact in the real-world while playing the game. If a sex offender
is prevented from accessing a social networking website, where they do
not have direct physical access to children, they should certainly be
prevented from playing these augmented reality games, where they
inevitably will come in close proximity to children.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  8174

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             August 3, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  KLEIN,  SAVINO, AVELLA, CARLUCCI, VALESKY -- read
  twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
  Committee on Rules

AN  ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to prohibiting sex offenders
  from playing augmented reality games

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Paragraph  (b) of subdivision 4-a of section 65.10 of the
penal law, as added by chapter 67 of the laws of  2008,  is  amended  to
read as follows:
  (b)  When  imposing  a  sentence of probation or conditional discharge
upon a person convicted of an offense for which registration  as  a  sex
offender is required pursuant to subdivision two or three of section one
hundred  sixty-eight-a  of  the  correction  law, and the victim of such
offense was under the age of eighteen at the time  of  such  offense  or
such  person  has been designated a level three sex offender pursuant to
subdivision six of section one hundred sixty-eight-l of  the  correction
law  or the internet was used to facilitate the commission of the crime,
the court shall require, as mandatory conditions of such sentence,  that
such  sentenced offender be prohibited from using the internet to access
pornographic material, access a commercial social networking  website[,]
OR  AUGMENTED REALITY GAME, communicate with other individuals or groups
for the purpose of promoting sexual relations with persons under the age
of eighteen, and communicate with a person under  the  age  of  eighteen
when  such offender is over the age of eighteen, provided that the court
may permit an offender to use the internet to communicate with a  person
under  the  age  of eighteen when such offender is the parent of a minor
child and is not  otherwise  prohibited  from  communicating  with  such
child. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as restricting any
other  lawful  condition  of  supervision  that  may  be imposed on such
sentenced offender. As used in this subdivision,  a  "commercial  social
networking website" shall mean any business, organization or other enti-
ty  operating a website that permits persons under eighteen years of age
to  be  registered  users  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  personal

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD15954-02-6

S. 8174                             2

relationships  with other users, where such persons under eighteen years
of age may: (i) create web pages or profiles  that  provide  information
about  themselves  where such web pages or profiles are available to the
public  or  to  other users; (ii) engage in direct or real time communi-
cation with other users, such as a chat room or instant  messenger;  and
(iii)  communicate  with  persons  over eighteen years of age; provided,
however, that, for purposes of this  subdivision,  a  commercial  social
networking  website  shall  not  include a website that permits users to
engage in such other activities as are not enumerated herein.   AS  USED
IN  THIS  SUBDIVISION, "AUGMENTED REALITY GAME" MEANS A DIGITAL APPLICA-
TION OR GAME, TYPICALLY ACCESSED ON MOBILE DEVICES,  INCLUDING  BUT  NOT
LIMITED  TO:  SMARTPHONES;  TABLETS; OR AUGMENTED REALITY GLASSES; WHICH
CAUSES USERS TO PHYSICALLY  MOVE  TO  AND/OR  PERSONALLY  INTERACT  WITH
LOCATIONS  OUTSIDE  THE  USER'S  PLACE  OF  RESIDENCE FOR THE PURPOSE OF
ACHIEVING GOALS OR MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE WITHIN THE GAME.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
have become a law.

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Senate Bill S8174

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

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co-Sponsors

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Details

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Jeffrey D. Klein

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Actions

co-Sponsors

Diane J. Savino

Tony Avella

David Carlucci

David J. Valesky

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Details

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S8174 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments