NY State Senate Bill 2017-S3609

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Corporations, Authorities And Commissions 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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
Jan 25, 2017	referred to corporations, authorities and commissions

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Corporations, Authorities And Commissions
Law Section:: Business Corporation Law
Laws Affected:: Add Art 18 §§1801 - 1803, BC L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: S6529
2019-2020: S2260

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to unauthorized and misleading electronic mail.

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S3609

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the business corporation law, in
relation to unauthorized and misleading electronic mail

 PURPOSE :

This bill would prohibit the transmission of certain unauthorized and
misleading e-mails.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends the business corporation law by adding a new Article
18.

§ 1801 contains definitions.

§ 1802 prohibits the transmission of in-state commercial e-mails using
an unauthorized third party domain or obscuring the email's point of
origin, or containing false or misleading information in the subject
line.

§ 1803 provides damages recoverable by such e-mail recipients are $100
for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

Section 2 provides this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day

after it shall have become a law.

 EXISTING LAW :

None

 JUSTIFICATION :

Unsolicited bulk electronic mail, or "spam" is becoming increasingly
problematic for New Yorkers. Unsolicited e-mails containing "get rich
quick" schemes and pornographic materials are those types that are
particularly dangerous, and both combined account for almost two-
thirds of all spam.

Spam has significant costs for internet service providers who must pay
for increased bandwidth as a result of areas eaten up by bulk e-mail,
processing the large capacities spam occupies in email accounts, and
consumers who choose to leave ISPs because of too much spam. ISPs pass
these costs on to their customers. Businesses of all kinds must pay
for ever-changing software to filter spam from their systems, and
employees must spend time sifting through their e-mails to find those
that are or are not legitimate.

Spam generators, in numerous cases have used deceptive marketing
practices, notably using an unrelated subject line to "hook" the
recipient, routing e-mails through third-party computers so they
appear to be coming from other businesses, and using invalid return
addresses that instead of unsubscribing from the service, simply
notify the spammer they have found a legitimate email address.

This bill mirrors a Washington law that has withstood constitutional
challenges. The Washington portion of this bill forbids commercial
e-mail with misleading subject lines or with a disguised point of
origin. The Washington State Supreme Court upheld the law in July 2001
and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the case in October 2001.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, these
court decisions have bolstered state efforts to enact uniform
legislation nationwide.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

01/22/16 REFERRED TO CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

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

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3609
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 25, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations,  Authorities
   and Commissions
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the business corporation law, in relation to unauthor-
   ized and misleading electronic mail

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  business  corporation law is amended by adding a new
 article 18 to read as follows:
                                 ARTICLE 18
                             UNAUTHORIZED AND
                        MISLEADING ELECTRONIC MAIL
 
 SECTION 1801. DEFINITIONS.
         1802. MISLEADING ELECTRONIC MAIL; PROHIBITION.
         1803. VIOLATIONS AND DAMAGES.
 § 1801. DEFINITIONS.
   FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE, THE FOLLOWING TERMS HAVE THE FOLLOW-
 ING MEANINGS:
   (A) "ASSIST THE TRANSMISSION" MEANS  ACTIONS  TAKEN  BY  A  PERSON  TO
 PROVIDE  SUBSTANTIAL  ASSISTANCE  OR SUPPORT WHICH ENABLES ANY PERSON TO
 FORMULATE, COMPOSE, SEND, ORIGINATE, INITIATE OR TRANSMIT  A  COMMERCIAL
 ELECTRONIC  MAIL  MESSAGE WHEN THE PERSON PROVIDING THE ASSISTANCE KNOWS
 OR CONSCIOUSLY AVOIDS KNOWING THAT THE INITIATOR OF THE COMMERCIAL ELEC-
 TRONIC MAIL MESSAGE IS ENGAGED OR INTENDS TO  ENGAGE,  IN  ANY  PRACTICE
 THAT VIOLATES THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
   (B)  "COMMERCIAL  ELECTRONIC  MAIL  MESSAGE"  MEANS AN ELECTRONIC MAIL
 MESSAGE SENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADVERTISING OR  PROMOTING  MATERIAL  FOR
 THE  LEASE, SALE, RENTAL, GIFT OFFER OR OTHER DISPOSITION OF ANY REALTY,
 GOODS, SERVICES OR EXTENSION OF CREDIT.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02048-01-7

 S. 3609                             2
 
   (C) "ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESS" MEANS A DESTINATION, COMMONLY  EXPRESSED
 AS  A  STRING  OF  CHARACTERS,  TO  WHICH ELECTRONIC MAIL MAY BE SENT OR
 DELIVERED.
   (D)  "INITIATE  THE TRANSMISSION" REFERS TO THE ACTION BY THE ORIGINAL
 SENDER OF AN ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGE, NOT TO THE ACTION BY ANY INTERVEN-
 ING INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE  THAT  MAY  HANDLE  OR  RETRANSMIT  THE
 MESSAGE, UNLESS SUCH INTERVENING INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE ASSISTS IN
 THE  TRANSMISSION  OF  AN  ELECTRONIC  MAIL  MESSAGE  WHEN  IT  KNOWS OR
 CONSCIOUSLY AVOIDS KNOWING THAT THE PERSON INITIATING  THE  TRANSMISSION
 IS  ENGAGED,  OR INTENDS TO ENGAGE, IN ANY ACT OR PRACTICE THAT VIOLATES
 THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
   (E) "INTERNET DOMAIN NAME" REFERS TO 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.
   (F) "PERSON OR  ENTITY"  MEANS  A  PERSON,  CORPORATION,  PARTNERSHIP,
 COMPANY,  LIMITED  LIABILITY COMPANY, TRUST OR ASSOCIATION, OR ANY AGENT
 OR EMPLOYEE THEREOF.
 § 1802. MISLEADING ELECTRONIC MAIL; PROHIBITION.
   (A) NO PERSON SHALL INITIATE THE TRANSMISSION, CONSPIRE  WITH  ANOTHER
 TO  INITIATE THE TRANSMISSION OR ASSIST THE TRANSMISSION OF A COMMERCIAL
 ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGE FROM A COMPUTER LOCATED IN THIS STATE OR  TO  AN
 ELECTRONIC  MAIL  ADDRESS THAT THE SENDER KNOWS OR HAS REASON TO KNOW IS
 HELD BY A RESIDENT OF THIS STATE THAT:
   (1) USES A THIRD PARTY'S INTERNET DOMAIN NAME  WITHOUT  PERMISSION  OF
 THE  THIRD PARTY, OR OTHERWISE MISREPRESENTS OR OBSCURES ANY INFORMATION
 IN IDENTIFYING THE POINT OF ORIGIN OR THE TRANSMISSION PATH OF A COMMER-
 CIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGE; OR
   (2) CONTAINS FALSE OR MISLEADING INFORMATION IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
   (B) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, A PERSON KNOWS THAT THE INTENDED
 RECIPIENT OF A COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGE IS A RESIDENT OF  THIS
 STATE  IF  THAT  INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST, FROM THE REGIS-
 TRANT OF THE INTERNET DOMAIN NAME CONTAINED IN THE RECIPIENT'S ELECTRON-
 IC MAIL ADDRESS.
 § 1803. VIOLATIONS AND DAMAGES.
   DAMAGES RECOVERABLE BY A RECIPIENT OF  A  COMMERCIAL  ELECTRONIC  MAIL
 MESSAGE  SENT  IN  VIOLATION OF THIS ARTICLE ARE ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR
 THE FIRST OFFENSE AND ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.

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Senate Bill S3609

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Corporations, Authorities And Commissions Committee

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S3609

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Sponsored By

James Sanders Jr.

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Corporations, Authorities And Commissions Committee

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Details

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2017-S3609 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments