PRINTER'S NO. 3715
No. 2517 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY McCALL, CAWLEY, THOMAS, ALLEN, BEBKO-JONES,
BELFANTI, BENNINGHOFF, BIANCUCCI, BOYD, BROWNE, BUNT, CLYMER,
CORRIGAN, COSTA, CRUZ, CURRY, DALEY, DALLY, DONATUCCI,
FABRIZIO, FLICK, GEIST, GEORGE, GERGELY, GOOD, GOODMAN,
GRUCELA, HALUSKA, HARHAI, HERMAN, HERSHEY, HESS, KELLER,
KIRKLAND, KOTIK, LAUGHLIN, LEACH, LEDERER, LEWIS, MANN,
MELIO, MICOZZIE, OLIVER, O'NEILL, PALLONE, PAYNE, PETRARCA,
PICKETT, PISTELLA, READSHAW, REICHLEY, RUFFING, SAINATO,
SATHER, SCAVELLO, SEMMEL, SHANER, SOLOBAY, STABACK, SURRA,
TANGRETTI, TIGUE, TRAVAGLIO, WALKO, WANSACZ, WOJNAROSKI AND
YOUNGBLOOD, APRIL 13, 2004
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, APRIL 13, 2004
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, establishing a criminal offense for
3 World Wide Web publishers who refuse to remove or disable
4 access to Internet sites that contain language or images that
5 harass, stalk or threaten school officials.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
9 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
10 § 7617. Internet harassment, stalking or threatening of school
11 officials and employees.
12 (a) General rule.--A World Wide Web publisher shall remove
13 or disable access to language or images that harass, stalk or
14 threaten school officials or employees that reside on its World
15 Wide Web page in a manner accessible to persons located within
1 this Commonwealth within five business days of when the World
2 Wide Web publisher is notified by the Attorney General pursuant
3 to subsection (h) that language or images that harass, stalk or
4 threaten school officials reside on its World Wide Web page.
5 (b) Protection of privacy.--Nothing in this section may be
6 construed as imposing a duty on a World Wide Web publisher to
7 actively monitor its World Wide Web page or affirmatively seek
8 evidence of illegal activity on its World Wide Web page except
9 for in the case of specific illegal language or images as
10 specified by subsection (f) determined through a hearing
11 pursuant to subsection (j) applying to a specific World Wide Web
12 publisher and all of the World Wide Web pages that he controls.
13 (c) Penalty.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law to
14 the contrary, any World Wide Web publisher who violates
15 subsection (a) commits:
16 (1) A misdemeanor of the third degree for a first
17 offense punishable by a fine of $2,500.
18 (2) A misdemeanor of the second degree for a second
19 offense punishable by a fine of $5,000.
20 (3) A felony of the third degree for a third or
21 subsequent offense punishable by a fine of $15,000 and
22 imprisonment for a maximum of seven years.
23 (d) Jurisdiction for prosecution.--The Attorney General
24 shall have concurrent prosecutorial jurisdiction with the county
25 district attorney for violations of this section. No person
26 charged with a violation of this section by the Attorney General
27 shall have standing to challenge the authority of the Attorney
28 General to prosecute the case, and if any such challenge is
29 made, the challenge shall be dismissed and no relief shall be
30 available in the courts of this Commonwealth to the person
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1 making the challenge.
2 (e) Identifying the World Wide Web publisher.--When
3 requested, an Internet service provider or a World Wide Web host
4 shall provide the Attorney General or the county district
5 attorney with the identity of the World Wide Web publisher of
6 the World Wide Web page in question using their service within
7 five business days of the request by the Attorney General or
8 county district attorney. This information shall remain
9 confidential until the point of an official order to remove or
10 disable such items pursuant to subsection (g). An official
11 request for the identity of a World Wide Web publisher shall be
12 made by the Attorney General or county district attorney to an
13 Internet service provider and shall include:
14 (1) A statement of the authority of the applicant to
15 make such an application.
16 (2) A statement of the identity of the investigative or
17 law enforcement officer that has, in the official scope of
18 that officer's duties, discovered the language or imagery
19 that harasses, stalks or threatens school officials on the
20 Internet.
21 (3) A statement by the investigative or law enforcement
22 officer who has knowledge of relevant information justifying
23 the application.
24 (4) The uniform resource locator providing access to
25 such items.
26 (5) A showing that there is probable cause to believe
27 that such items constitute a violation of section 2706
28 (relating to terroristic threats), 2709 (relating to
29 harassment) or 2709.1 (relating to stalking).
30 (6) Contact information for the Office of Attorney
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1 General including the name, address and telephone number of
2 any deputy or agent authorized by the Attorney General to
3 submit such a request.
4 (f) Application for order to remove or disable items.--An
5 application for an order of authorization to remove or disable
6 items residing on a World Wide Web publisher's World Wide Web
7 page shall be made to the court of common pleas having
8 jurisdiction in writing upon the personal oath or affirmation of
9 the Attorney General or a district attorney of the county
10 wherein the items have been discovered and if available shall
11 contain all of the following information:
12 (1) A statement of the authority of the applicant to
13 make such an application.
14 (2) A statement of the identity of the investigative or
15 law enforcement officer that has, in the official scope of
16 that officer's duties, discovered the language or imagery
17 that harasses, stalks or threatens school officials on the
18 Internet.
19 (3) A statement by the investigative or law enforcement
20 officer who has knowledge of relevant information justifying
21 the application.
22 (4) The uniform resource locator providing access to
23 such items.
24 (5) The identity of the World Wide Web publisher.
25 (6) A showing that there is probable cause to believe
26 that such items constitute a violation of section 2706, 2709
27 or 2709.1.
28 (7) A proposed order of authorization for consideration
29 by the judge.
30 (8) Contact information for the Office of Attorney
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1 General, including the name, address and telephone number of
2 any deputy or agent authorized by the Attorney General to
3 submit notification pursuant to subsection (h).
4 (9) Such additional testimony or documentary evidence in
5 support of the application as the judge may require.
6 (g) Order to remove or disable certain items from World Wide
7 Web publisher's World Wide Web page.--Upon consideration of an
8 application, the court may enter an order, including an ex parte
9 order, as requested, advising the Attorney General or district
10 attorney that such items constitute probable cause evidence of a
11 violation of section 2706, 2709 or 2709.1 and that such items
12 shall be removed or disabled from the World Wide Web publisher's
13 World Wide Web page and the court may include such other
14 information as the court deems relevant and necessary.
15 (h) Notification procedure.--
16 (1) The Attorney General shall have exclusive
17 jurisdiction to notify World Wide Web publishers under this
18 section. The Attorney General shall initiate notification
19 pursuant to this section if requested in writing by a
20 district attorney who has provided the Attorney General with
21 a copy of the application made pursuant to subsection (f) and
22 a copy of the order issued pursuant to subsection (g) or upon
23 the issuance of an order based upon an application filed by
24 the Attorney General.
25 (2) For purposes of this subsection, a World Wide Web
26 publisher, or the person designated by the World Wide Web
27 publisher as provided for in subsection (i), shall be
28 notified in writing by the Attorney General within three
29 business days of the Attorney General's receipt of an order.
30 (3) The notice shall include the following information:
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1 (i) A copy of the application made pursuant to
2 subsection (f).
3 (ii) A copy of the court order issued pursuant to
4 subsection (g).
5 (iii) Notification that the World Wide Web publisher
6 must remove or disable the items residing on or
7 accessible through its World Wide Web page within five
8 business days of the date of receipt of the notification.
9 (iv) Contact information for the Office of the
10 Attorney General, including the name, address and
11 telephone number of any deputy or agent authorized by the
12 Attorney General to submit notification pursuant to this
13 subsection.
14 (i) Designated agent.--A World Wide Web publisher may
15 designate an agent to receive notification pursuant to
16 subsection (h).
17 (j) Challenging the order to remove or disable certain items
18 from World Wide Web publisher's World Wide Web page.--Within 30
19 days of the order to remove or disable certain items from a
20 World Wide Web publisher's World Wide Web page pursuant to
21 subsection (g), the World Wide Web publisher may request a
22 hearing to challenge the order of removal from the court issuing
23 the removal, and shall be granted a hearing within 10 business
24 days of the challenge.
25 (k) Defendant's testimony during the hearing pursuant to
26 subsection (j).--The defendant's testimony during the hearing
27 pursuant to subsection (j) shall not be accepted as evidence in
28 any hearing thereafter.
29 (l) Court order for removal.--If, at the completion of a
30 hearing challenging the order of removal, the court finds that
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1 the items ordered to be removed constitute harassing,
2 threatening or stalking images or language as pursuant to
3 section 2706, 2709 or 2709.1, the court shall order the World
4 Wide Web publisher to remove all cases of these threats from all
5 of the World Wide Web pages that the World Wide Web publisher
6 controls, including those which are controlled by the World Wide
7 Web publisher but are not specifically identified in the removal
8 order.
9 (m) Penalties for failing to comply with a court order
10 pursuant to subsection (l).--Failure to comply with an order
11 pursuant to subsection (l) shall result in the World Wide Web
12 publisher forfeiting the immunity that his testimony was granted
13 from civil and criminal trials by subsection (k).
14 (n) Report to the General Assembly.--The Attorney General
15 shall make an annual report to the chairman and minority
16 chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate and to the
17 chairman and the minority chairman of the Judiciary Committee of
18 the House of Representatives providing information on the number
19 of notifications issued, the number of cases voluntarily
20 remedied pursuant to notification and the number of prosecutions
21 made under this subsection, making any recommendations for
22 amendatory language.
23 (o) Applicability.--This section shall not apply to online
24 discussion forums.
25 (p) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
26 words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
27 subsection:
28 "Internet." The myriad of computer and telecommunications
29 facilities, including equipment and operating software, which
30 comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that
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1 employ the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol, or
2 any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to
3 communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.
4 "Internet service provider." A service that enables users to
5 access content, information, electronic mail or other services
6 offered over the Internet.
7 "Online discussion forum." An online bulletin board, online
8 newsgroup, chat room, Internet Relay Channel, message board,
9 listserv, discussion board or other online discussion form.
10 "School." Any elementary or secondary publicly funded
11 educational institution including any elementary or secondary
12 private school licensed by the Department of Education or any
13 elementary or secondary parochial school.
14 "Web host." An entity that contracts with a World Wide Web
15 publisher to store the World Wide Web publisher's World Wide Web
16 pages and make those World Wide Web pages generally available to
17 users on the Internet.
18 "Web page." A document connected to the World Wide Web and
19 viewable by anyone connected to the Internet that has a World
20 Wide Web browser.
21 "Web publisher." Individuals, businesses, governments and
22 other institutions that make content broadly available over the
23 Internet by creating a World Wide Web site connected to the
24 World Wide Web.
25 "World Wide Web." The complete set of documents residing on
26 all Internet servers that use the HTTP protocol.
27 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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