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1 | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | amended by changing Sections 1-2 and 2 and by adding Section | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | 1-2.5 as follows: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | (720 ILCS 135/1-2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Sec. 1-2. Harassment through electronic communications. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | (a) Harassment through electronic communications is the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | use of electronic
communication for any of the following | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | purposes: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | (1) Transmitting Making any comment, request, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | suggestion or proposal which is obscene
with an intent to | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | offend; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | (2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | telephone service or the
electronic communication service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | of any person; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | (3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | harass and regardless
of whether the communication is read | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | in its entirety or at all, any file,
document, or other | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | communication which prevents that person from using his or
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22 | her telephone service or electronic communications device; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | (3.1) Transmitting an electronic communication or |
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1 | knowingly inducing a
person to transmit an electronic | ||||||
2 | communication for the purpose of harassing
another person | ||||||
3 | who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the | ||||||
4 | person
under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, if | ||||||
5 | the defendant is at least
16 years of age at the time of | ||||||
6 | the commission of the offense; | ||||||
7 | (4) Threatening injury to the person or to the property | ||||||
8 | of the person to
whom an electronic communication is | ||||||
9 | directed or to any of his or her family or
household | ||||||
10 | members; or | ||||||
11 | (4.1) Knowingly and by any means making repeated,
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12 | unwanted, and harassing communication to another person; | ||||||
13 | or | ||||||
14 | (5) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications | ||||||
15 | device to be used
for any of the purposes mentioned in this | ||||||
16 | subsection (a). | ||||||
17 | (b) As used in this Act: | ||||||
18 | (1) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of | ||||||
19 | signs, signals,
writings, images, sounds, data or | ||||||
20 | intelligence of any nature transmitted in
whole or in part | ||||||
21 | by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric or
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22 | photo-optical system. "Electronic communication" includes | ||||||
23 | transmissions through an electronic device including, but | ||||||
24 | not limited to, a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or | ||||||
25 | pager, which communication includes, but is not limited to, | ||||||
26 | e-mail, instant message, text message, or voice mail. |
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1 | (2) "Family or household member" includes spouses, | ||||||
2 | former spouses,
parents,
children, stepchildren and other | ||||||
3 | persons related by blood or by present or
prior
marriage, | ||||||
4 | persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, | ||||||
5 | persons who
have or allegedly share a blood relationship | ||||||
6 | through a child, persons who have
or have had a dating or | ||||||
7 | engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities
and | ||||||
8 | their personal assistants. For purposes of this Act, | ||||||
9 | neither a casual
acquaintanceship nor ordinary | ||||||
10 | fraternization between 2 individuals in
business or social | ||||||
11 | contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating
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12 | relationship. | ||||||
13 | (c) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service | ||||||
14 | providers, and providers of information services, including, | ||||||
15 | but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting | ||||||
16 | service providers, are not liable under this Section, except | ||||||
17 | for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the | ||||||
18 | transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications | ||||||
19 | or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other | ||||||
20 | related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | ||||||
21 | information services used by others in violation of this | ||||||
22 | Section. | ||||||
23 | (Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09; 97-303, eff. 8-11-11.) | ||||||
24 | (720 ILCS 135/1-2.5 new) | ||||||
25 | Sec. 1-2.5. Harassment by cyber identity theft. |
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1 | (a) A person commits harassment by cyber identity
theft | ||||||
2 | when he or she knowingly: | ||||||
3 | (1) creates, modifies, or uses a fictitious online | ||||||
4 | account with
the intent to harass, defame, or otherwise | ||||||
5 | humiliate a person
or entity without the consent of that | ||||||
6 | person or entity; or | ||||||
7 | (2) without the authorization of an account holder or | ||||||
8 | in excess
of the authority granted by an account holder to | ||||||
9 | him or to her: | ||||||
10 | (A) accesses or causes to be accessed by any means | ||||||
11 | an
electronic mail (e-mail), instant messaging, or | ||||||
12 | social
networking website account; | ||||||
13 | (B) accesses or causes to be accessed by any means | ||||||
14 | an
electronic mail (e-mail), instant messaging, or | ||||||
15 | social
networking website account, and views the | ||||||
16 | content of an
electronic communication; or | ||||||
17 | (C) accesses or causes to be accessed by any means | ||||||
18 | a
computer or any part thereof, a computer network,
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19 | electronic mail (e-mail), instant messaging, or social
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20 | networking website account, and | ||||||
21 | (i) deletes an electronic communication; or | ||||||
22 | (ii) transmits an electronic communication | ||||||
23 | purporting
to be the account holder; or | ||||||
24 | (iii) changes the password for the account; | ||||||
25 | (3) without the authorization of an account holder or | ||||||
26 | in excess
of the authority granted by an account holder to |
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1 | him or her: | ||||||
2 | (A) accesses or causes to be accessed by any means | ||||||
3 | a social
networking website account, and: | ||||||
4 | (i) alters the privacy settings for the | ||||||
5 | account
holder's account; or | ||||||
6 | (ii) gives himself or another access to view | ||||||
7 | private
content on the account holder's social | ||||||
8 | networking
website account; | ||||||
9 | (B) accesses or causes to be accessed by any means | ||||||
10 | a
computer or any part thereof, a computer network,
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11 | electronic mail (e-mail) account, instant messaging
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12 | account, social networking website account, and | ||||||
13 | (i) adds, deletes, or alters content; or | ||||||
14 | (ii) posts content or an electronic | ||||||
15 | communication to
another's social networking | ||||||
16 | website account
purporting to be from the account | ||||||
17 | holder. | ||||||
18 | (b) Definitions. | ||||||
19 | (1) Unless as otherwise
specified in this subsection | ||||||
20 | (b), terms used in this Section 1-2.5
shall have the same | ||||||
21 | meanings as the terms defined in Article 17 of
the Criminal | ||||||
22 | Code of 1961. | ||||||
23 | (2) As used in this Section 1-2.5: | ||||||
24 | "Access" means to, by any means, use, instruct,
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25 | communicate with, store data in, retrieve or intercept | ||||||
26 | data
from, or otherwise utilize any services of, a |
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1 | computer, a
network, or data. | ||||||
2 | "Account holder" means the person or entity to whom | ||||||
3 | or
to which electronic mail or instant message service
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4 | account, social networking website profile, or other
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5 | virtual identity is registered. | ||||||
6 | "Fictitious online account" means any electronic | ||||||
7 | mail
instant messaging, social networking website, | ||||||
8 | weblog or
micro weblog account or any other virtual | ||||||
9 | identity
associated with any computer or on-line | ||||||
10 | service which
falsely purports to belong to or be | ||||||
11 | created by any person
unless the account or profile | ||||||
12 | clearly indicates that it
does not represent or is | ||||||
13 | associated with that person or
entity. An account or | ||||||
14 | profile clearly indicates that it
does not represent or | ||||||
15 | is associated with a person or entity
when electronic | ||||||
16 | messages which are not limited in length
contain an | ||||||
17 | express disclosure or when the account profile
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18 | expressly discloses the same. "Fictitious online | ||||||
19 | account"
does not include an account created and | ||||||
20 | utilized by a law
enforcement officer solely in the | ||||||
21 | performance of his or her duties.
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22 | (720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
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23 | Sec. 2. Sentence.
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24 | (a) Except as provided in
subsection (b), a
person who | ||||||
25 | violates any of the provisions of
Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of |
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1 | this Act
is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
Except as provided
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2 | in subsection (b), a second or subsequent
violation of Section | ||||||
3 | 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this
Act is a Class A
misdemeanor, for which | ||||||
4 | the
court
shall impose a minimum of 14 days in
jail or, if | ||||||
5 | public or
community service is established in the county in | ||||||
6 | which the offender was
convicted, 240 hours of public or | ||||||
7 | community service.
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8 | (b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who | ||||||
9 | violates Section 1,
1-1, or
1-2 of this Act shall be guilty of | ||||||
10 | a Class 4 felony:
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11 | (1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in the | ||||||
12 | last 10 years of
harassment
by
telephone under Section 1-1 | ||||||
13 | of this Act, harassment through electronic
communications | ||||||
14 | under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of | ||||||
15 | any
state;
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16 | (2) The person has previously violated the harassment | ||||||
17 | by telephone
provisions of Section 1-1 of this Act or the | ||||||
18 | harassment through electronic
communications provisions of | ||||||
19 | Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar
offense in | ||||||
20 | any state with the same victim or a member of the victim's | ||||||
21 | family or
household;
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22 | (3) At the time of the offense, the offender was under | ||||||
23 | conditions of bail,
probation, mandatory supervised | ||||||
24 | release or was the subject of an order of
protection, in | ||||||
25 | this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the | ||||||
26 | victim or
any member of the victim's family or household;
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1 | (4) In the course of the offense, the offender | ||||||
2 | threatened to kill the
victim or any member of the victim's | ||||||
3 | family or household;
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4 | (5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 years | ||||||
5 | of a forcible
felony
as defined in Section 2-8 of the | ||||||
6 | Criminal Code of 1961;
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7 | (6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 1-1 | ||||||
8 | or paragraph
(3.1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2; or | ||||||
9 | (7) The person was at least 18 years of age at the time | ||||||
10 | of the commission of the offense and the victim was under | ||||||
11 | 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the | ||||||
12 | offense.
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13 | (c) A person who violates Section 1-2.5
shall be guilty of: | ||||||
14 | (1) A Class B misdemeanor for a violation of | ||||||
15 | subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of | ||||||
16 | Section 1-2.5 for which
the court shall impose a minimum | ||||||
17 | fine of $500 or, if public or
community service is | ||||||
18 | established in the county in which the
offender was | ||||||
19 | convicted, 30 hours of public or community
service. | ||||||
20 | (2) A Class A misdemeanor for a first violation of
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21 | paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2.5, | ||||||
22 | subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of | ||||||
23 | Section 1-2.5, or subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of | ||||||
24 | subsection (a) of Section 1-2.5,
for which the court shall | ||||||
25 | impose a minimum fine of $1,000 or,
if public or community | ||||||
26 | service is established in the county in
which the offender |
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1 | was convicted, 80 hours of public or
community service. | ||||||
2 | (3) A Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent
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3 | violation of paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Section | ||||||
4 | 1-2.5, subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) | ||||||
5 | of Section 1-2.5, or subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of | ||||||
6 | subsection (a) of Section 1-2.5. | ||||||
7 | (4) A Class 4 felony for a violation of subparagraph | ||||||
8 | (C) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2.5 or | ||||||
9 | subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of | ||||||
10 | Section 1-
2.5. | ||||||
11 | (Source: P.A. 95-984, eff. 6-1-09 .)
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12 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
13 | becoming law.
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