Public Act 93-0199
HB2972 Enrolled LRB093 04115 WGH 04155 b
AN ACT concerning electronic mail.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Electronic Mail Act is amended by
changing Section 10 as follows:
(815 ILCS 511/10)
Sec. 10. Unsolicited or misleading electronic mail;
prohibition.
(a) No individual or entity may initiate or cause to be
initiated an unsolicited electronic mail advertisement if the
electronic mail advertisement (i) uses a third party's
Internet domain name without permission of the third party,
or otherwise misrepresents any information in identifying the
point of origin or the transmission path of an electronic
mail advertisement or (ii) contains false or misleading
information in the subject line.
(a-5) An initiator of an unsolicited electronic mail
advertisement must establish a toll-free telephone number or
valid sender-operated return electronic mail address that the
recipient of the unsolicited electronic mail advertisement
may call or electronically mail to notify the sender not to
electronically mail any further unsolicited electronic mail
advertisements.
(a-10) An initiator of an unsolicited electronic mail
advertisement is prohibited from selling or transferring in
any manner the electronic mail address of any person who has
notified the initiator that the person does not want to
receive any further unsolicited electronic mail
advertisements.
(a-15) Each unsolicited electronic mail advertisement's
subject line shall include "ADV:" as its first 4 characters.
For any unsolicited electronic mail advertisement that
contains information regarding the lease, sale, rental, gift
offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services,
or extension of credit, that may only be viewed, purchased,
rented, leased, or held in possession by an individual 18
years of age and older, the subject line of each and every
message shall include "ADV:ADLT" as the first 8 characters.
(b) This Section applies when the unsolicited electronic
mail advertisement is delivered to an Illinois resident via
an electronic mail service provider's service or equipment
located in this State.
(c) Any person, other than an electronic mail service
provider, who suffers actual damages as a result of a
violation of this Section committed by any individual or
entity may bring an action against such individual or entity.
The injured person may recover attorney's fees and costs, and
may elect, in lieu of recovery of actual damages, to recover
the lesser of $10 for each and every unsolicited electronic
mail advertisement transmitted in violation of this Section,
or $25,000 per day. The injured person shall not have a
cause of action against the electronic mail service provider
that merely transmits the unsolicited electronic mail
advertisement over its computer network.
(d) Any electronic mail service provider who suffers
actual damages as a result of a violation of this Section
committed by any individual or entity may bring an action
against such individual or entity. The injured person may
recover attorney's fees and costs, and may elect, in lieu of
recovery of actual damages, to recover the lesser of $10 for
each and every unsolicited electronic mail advertisement
transmitted in violation of this Section, or $25,000 per day.
(e) The provisions of this Section shall not be
construed to limit any person's right to pursue any
additional civil remedy otherwise allowed by law.
(f) An electronic mail service provider may, upon its
own initiative, block the receipt or transmission through its
service of any unsolicited electronic mail advertisement that
it reasonably believes is, or will be, sent in violation of
this Section.
(g) No electronic mail service provider may be held
liable for any action voluntarily taken in good faith to
block the receipt or transmission through its service of any
unsolicited electronic mail advertisement which it reasonably
believes is, or will be, sent in violation of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 91-233, eff. 1-1-00.)