-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- This piece from RISKS looks interesting. My computer certainly _is_ "equipment which has the capacity to transcribe text or images (or both) from an electronic signal received over a regular telephone line onto paper." Now, are HipCrime et al. liable for $500 in damages for each piece of spam? If so, where do I sign up? - Ian - ---8<---8<--- Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 19:46:42 -0400 From: Dan Franklin <dan@copernicus.bbn.com> Subject: Sometimes junk e-mail is already a fax, legally speaking I've been using the following legal information, which I picked up from another mailing list (Keith Bostic's /dev/null list), in my responses to junk e-mail these days. So far I haven't yet received junk e-mail on my home computer while it had a printer attached, but one of these days... Under US Code Title 47, Sec.227(b)(1)(C): "It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine" A "telephone facsimile machine" is defined in Sec.227(a)(2)(B) as: "equipment which has the capacity to transcribe text or images (or both) from an electronic signal received over a regular telephone line onto paper." Under this definition, an e-mail account, modem, computer and printer together constitute a fax machine. The rights of action are as follows. Under Sec.227(b)(3)(B): "A person or entity may, if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State, bring in an appropriate court of that State -- (A) an action based on a violation of this subsection or the regulations prescribed under this subsection to enjoin such violation, (B) an action to recover for actual monetary loss from such a violation, or to receive $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater, or (C) both such actions. If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated this subsection or the regulations prescribed under this subsection, the court may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 3 times the amount available under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph." For the full legal text USC Title 47, Section 227, see: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html Dan Franklin dfranklin@bbn.com -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMj3MlEZRiTErSPb1AQFSIgP/SKn68eix0cgOMa2QgOsAJ7IePBZitECs 1KflgL0ziSW9D5JBhYmjAfl3UoFF7UJ1vyROFUV7sgBB1PSXGAvBGycSqrIhciPh Fm/73HUT0pr4foyTAPOndhAOx3ls61+kT497TUx+BecPhtfI41Mu0zTdPaZdWogP vaxfu97SuWw= =OC/R -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----