HB 1211 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to electronic messages; providing
3	definitions; prohibiting a person from transmitting,
4	conspiring to transmit, or assisting in transmitting a
5	commercial electronic mail message from a computer within
6	the state to a resident of the state if that message uses
7	an Internet domain name without permission, misrepresents
8	the point of origin of the message, or contains false or
9	misleading information; specifying circumstances under
10	which a person has knowledge that the intended recipient
11	of a message is a resident of this state; providing for
12	injunctive or other equitable relief for a violation of
13	the act; authorizing the court to award damages;
14	authorizing a computer service to block the receipt or
15	transmission of a message upon reasonable belief that the
16	message is or will be sent in violation of the act;
17	providing immunity from liability for such action;
18	providing an effective date.
19
20	WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the volume of
21	unsolicited electronic mail has grown exponentially in the past
22	year as individuals and organizations have discovered that they
23	are able to send electronic advertisements to hundreds of
24	thousands of Internet users at virtually no cost, and
25	WHEREAS, unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages
26	constitute the majority of unsolicited electronic mail, and
27	unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages often impose an
28	out-of-pocket monetary cost on recipients who cannot refuse such
29	messages and who incur incremental fees for time spent accessing
30	and reviewing each message, and
31	WHEREAS, to the recipient, an unsolicited commercial
32	electronic mail message is often indistinguishable from other
33	electronic mail messages and the unsolicited messages thus
34	diminish the utility of the electronic mail service because
35	users must sort through unwanted advertisements to obtain those
36	messages they wish to receive, and
37	WHEREAS, unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages
38	cannot be effectively blocked and thus, invade the privacy of
39	recipients, and this invasion of privacy is exacerbated for
40	recipients whose electronic mail service issues an alert for
41	each message received, resulting in repeated disruption of
42	computer use, and
43	WHEREAS, advertisers may reach electronic mail users by
44	less-intrusive means that do not impose the cost of unwanted
45	advertisements on recipients and that do not interfere with
46	recipients' ability to use electronic mail service, and
47	advertisers may also continue to use electronic mail as a low-
48	cost method of reaching a wide audience if their mailings are
49	solicited, and
50	WHEREAS, unsolicited electronic mail sent in bulk often
51	imposes significant monetary costs on interactive computer
52	services, businesses, and educational and nonprofit
53	organizations because they must divert a significant portion of
54	limited computing resources to processing and storing these
55	messages and to responding to complaints by recipients, and
56	WHEREAS, unsolicited electronic mail is increasingly
57	diminishing the quality of service provided to customers of
58	interactive computer services and is harming the business
59	operations of interactive computer services, NOW, THEREFORE,
60
61	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
62
63	Section 1. Electronic mail containing unauthorized domain
64	name or false or misleading information prohibited; penalties.--
65	(1) As used in this section, the term:
66	(a) "Assist the transmission" means actions taken by a
67	person to provide substantial assistance or support that enables
68	a person to formulate, compose, send, originate, initiate, or
69	transmit a commercial electronic mail message when the person
70	providing the assistance knows or consciously avoids knowing
71	that the initiator of the commercial electronic mail message is
72	engaged, or intends to engage, in any practice that violates
73	laws protecting consumers.
74	(b) "Commercial electronic mail message" means an
75	electronic mail message sent for the purpose of promoting real
76	property, goods, or services for sale or lease. The term does
77	not mean an electronic mail message to which an interactive
78	computer service provider has attached an advertisement in
79	exchange for free use of an electronic mail account if the
80	sender has agreed to such an arrangement.
81	(c) "Electronic mail address" means a destination,
82	commonly expressed as a string of characters, to which
83	electronic mail may be sent or delivered.
84	(d) "Initiate the transmission" means the action by the
85	original sender of an electronic mail message, not the action by
86	any intervening interactive computer service that may handle or
87	retransmit the message, unless the intervening interactive
88	computer service assists in the transmission of an electronic
89	mail message when it knows, or consciously avoids knowing, that
90	the person initiating the transmission is engaged, or intends to
91	engage, in any act or practice that violates laws protecting
92	consumers.
93	(e) "Interactive computer service" means any information
94	service, system, or access software provider that provides or
95	enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server,
96	including a service or system that provides access to the
97	Internet and similar systems operated or services offered by
98	libraries or educational institutions.
99	(f) "Internet domain name" means the globally unique,
100	hierarchical reference to an Internet host or service which is
101	assigned through a naming authority and which consists of a
102	series of character strings separated by periods.
103	(g) "Person" means an individual, corporation,
104	partnership, or association.
105	(2)(a) A person may not transmit, conspire with another to
106	transmit, or assist in transmitting a commercial electronic mail
107	message from a computer located in this state to an electronic
108	mail address that the sender knows, or has reason to know, is
109	held by a resident of this state if the commercial electronic
110	mail message:
111	1. Uses a third party's Internet domain name without the
112	permission of the third party or which otherwise misrepresents
113	or obscures any information in identifying the point of origin
114	or the transmission path of a commercial electronic mail
115	message; or
116	2. Contains false or misleading information in the subject
117	line.
118	(b) For purposes of this subsection, a person knows that
119	the intended recipient of a commercial electronic mail message
120	is a resident of this state if that information is available
121	upon request from the registrant of the Internet domain name
122	contained in the recipient's electronic mail address.
123	(3) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, a
124	person may bring an action for appropriate injunctive or other
125	equitable relief for a violation of subsection (2). The court
126	may award damages of:
127	(a) Five hundred dollars to the recipient of a commercial
128	electronic mail message who suffers damage as a result of a
129	violation of subsection (2) or the court may award actual
130	damages, whichever is greater.
131	(b) One thousand dollars to an interactive computer
132	service that suffers damage as a result of a violation of
133	subsection (2) or the court may award actual damages, whichever
134	is greater.
135	(4)(a) An interactive computer service may, upon its own
136	initiative, block the receipt or transmission through its
137	service of any commercial electronic mail message that it
138	reasonably believes is, or will be, sent in violation of
139	subsection (2).
140	(b) An interactive computer service may not be held liable
141	for any action voluntarily taken in good faith to block the
142	receipt or transmission through its service of any commercial
143	electronic mail message that it reasonably believes is, or will
144	be, sent in violation of subsection (2).
145	Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.