Full Text of HB3251 100th General Assembly
HB3251eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HB3251 Engrossed | | LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b |
|
| 1 | | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 12-7.5 as follows:
| 6 | | (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
| 7 | | Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking.
| 8 | | (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages | 9 | | in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed | 10 | | at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that | 11 | | would cause a reasonable person to: | 12 | | (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third | 13 | | person; or | 14 | | (2) suffer other emotional distress. | 15 | | (a-3) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she, | 16 | | knowingly and without
lawful justification, on at least 2 | 17 | | separate occasions, harasses another person
through the use of | 18 | | electronic communication and:
| 19 | | (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or | 20 | | future bodily harm,
sexual assault, confinement, or | 21 | | restraint and the threat is directed towards
that person or | 22 | | a family member of that person; or
| 23 | | (2) places that person or a family member of that |
| | | HB3251 Engrossed | - 2 - | LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b |
|
| 1 | | person in reasonable
apprehension of immediate or future | 2 | | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement,
or restraint; or
| 3 | | (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an | 4 | | act by any person which would be a violation of this Code | 5 | | directed towards that person or a family member of that | 6 | | person. | 7 | | (a-4) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she | 8 | | knowingly, surreptitiously, and without lawful justification, | 9 | | installs or otherwise places electronic monitoring software or | 10 | | spyware on an electronic communication device as a means to | 11 | | harass another person and: | 12 | | (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or | 13 | | future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or | 14 | | restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or | 15 | | a family member of that person; | 16 | | (2) places that person or a family member of that | 17 | | person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future | 18 | | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint; or | 19 | | (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an | 20 | | act by any person which would be a violation of this Code | 21 | | directed towards that person or a family member of that | 22 | | person. | 23 | | For purposes of this Section, an installation or placement | 24 | | is not surreptitious if: | 25 | | (1) with respect to electronic software, hardware, or | 26 | | computer applications, clear notice regarding the use of |
| | | HB3251 Engrossed | - 3 - | LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b |
|
| 1 | | the specific type of tracking software or spyware is | 2 | | provided by the installer in advance to the owners and | 3 | | primary users of the electronic software, hardware, or | 4 | | computer application; or | 5 | | (2) written or electronic consent of all owners and | 6 | | primary users of the electronic software, hardware, or | 7 | | computer application on which the tracking software or | 8 | | spyware will be installed has been sought and obtained | 9 | | through a mechanism that does not seek to obtain any other | 10 | | approvals or acknowledgement from the owners and primary | 11 | | users. | 12 | | (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she, | 13 | | knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and | 14 | | maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to | 15 | | one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours, | 16 | | and which contains statements harassing another person and: | 17 | | (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future | 18 | | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, | 19 | | where the threat is directed towards that person or a | 20 | | family member of that person, or | 21 | | (2) which places that person or a family member of that | 22 | | person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future | 23 | | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, or | 24 | | (3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act | 25 | | by any person which would be a violation of this Code | 26 | | directed towards that person or a family member of that |
| | | HB3251 Engrossed | - 4 - | LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b |
|
| 1 | | person.
| 2 | | (b) Sentence. Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony; a second | 3 | | or subsequent
conviction is a Class 3 felony.
| 4 | | (c) For purposes of this Section: | 5 | | (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including | 6 | | but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly, | 7 | | indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, | 8 | | method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, | 9 | | surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, | 10 | | engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes | 11 | | with or damages a person's property or pet. The | 12 | | incarceration in a penal institution of a person who | 13 | | commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution | 14 | | under this Section. | 15 | | (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of | 16 | | signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of | 17 | | any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, | 18 | | radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical | 19 | | system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions | 20 | | through an electronic device including, but not limited to, | 21 | | a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or pager, which | 22 | | communication includes, but is not limited to, e-mail, | 23 | | instant message, text message, or voice mail. | 24 | | (2.1) "Electronic communication device" means an | 25 | | electronic device, including, but not limited to, a | 26 | | wireless telephone, personal digital assistant, or a |
| | | HB3251 Engrossed | - 5 - | LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b |
|
| 1 | | portable or mobile computer. | 2 | | (2.2) "Electronic monitoring software or spyware" | 3 | | means software or an application that surreptitiously | 4 | | tracks computer activity on a device and records and | 5 | | transmits the information to third parties with the intent | 6 | | to cause injury or harm. For the purposes of this paragraph | 7 | | (2.2), "intent to cause injury or harm" does not include | 8 | | activities carried out in furtherance of the prevention of | 9 | | fraud or crime or of protecting the security of networks, | 10 | | online services, applications, software, other computer | 11 | | programs, users, or electronic communication devices or | 12 | | similar devices. | 13 | | (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental | 14 | | suffering, anxiety or alarm. | 15 | | (4) "Harass"
means to engage in a knowing and willful | 16 | | course of conduct directed at a
specific person
that | 17 | | alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person. | 18 | | (5) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with | 19 | | the victim that is initiated or continued without the | 20 | | victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the | 21 | | physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight | 22 | | of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a | 23 | | public place or on private property; appearing at the | 24 | | workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or | 25 | | remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the | 26 | | victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object |
| | | HB3251 Engrossed | - 6 - | LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b |
|
| 1 | | to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim. | 2 | | (6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's | 3 | | circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the | 4 | | defendant and the defendant's prior acts. | 5 | | (7) "Third party" means any person other than the | 6 | | person violating these provisions and the person or persons | 7 | | towards whom the violator's actions are directed. | 8 | | (d) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service | 9 | | providers, and providers of information services, including, | 10 | | but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting | 11 | | service providers, are not liable under this Section, except | 12 | | for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the | 13 | | transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications | 14 | | or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other | 15 | | related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | 16 | | information services used by others in violation of this | 17 | | Section. | 18 | | (e) A defendant who directed the actions of a third party | 19 | | to violate this Section, under the principles of accountability | 20 | | set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty of violating | 21 | | this Section as if the same had been personally done by the | 22 | | defendant, without regard to the mental state of the third | 23 | | party acting at the direction of the defendant. | 24 | | (f) It is not a violation of this Section to: | 25 | | (1) provide, protect, maintain, update, or upgrade | 26 | | networks, online services, applications, software, other |
| | | HB3251 Engrossed | - 7 - | LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b |
|
| 1 | | computer programs, electronic communication devices, or | 2 | | similar devices under the terms of use applicable to those | 3 | | networks, services, applications, software, programs, or | 4 | | devices; | 5 | | (2) interfere with or prohibit terms or conditions in a | 6 | | contract or license related to networks, online services, | 7 | | applications, software, other computer programs, | 8 | | electronic communication devices, or similar devices; or | 9 | | (3) create any liability by reason of terms or | 10 | | conditions adopted, or technical measures implemented, to | 11 | | prevent the transmission of unsolicited electronic mail or | 12 | | communications. | 13 | | (Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09; 96-686, eff. 1-1-10; | 14 | | 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-303, eff. | 15 | | 8-11-11; 97-311, eff. 8-11-11; 97-1109, eff. 1-1-13.)
|
|