N.Y. PEN Law § 165.15 — New York Code / Act PEN / Part 3 / Title J / Article 165 / Section 165.15
Theft of services
Status: in_force

§ 165.15 Theft of services.\n  A person is guilty of theft of services when:\n  1. He obtains or attempts to obtain a service, or induces or attempts\nto induce the supplier of a rendered service to agree to payment\ntherefor on a credit basis, by the use of a credit card or debit card\nwhich he knows to be stolen.\n  2. With intent to avoid payment for restaurant services rendered, or\nfor services rendered to him as a transient guest at a hotel, motel,\ninn, tourist cabin, rooming house or comparable establishment, he avoids\nor attempts to avoid such payment by unjustifiable failure or refusal to\npay, by stealth, or by any misrepresentation of fact which he knows to\nbe false. A person who fails or refuses to pay for such services is\npresumed to have intended to avoid payment therefor; or\n  3. With intent to obtain railroad, subway, bus, air, taxi or any other\npublic transportation service without payment of the lawful charge\ntherefor, or to avoid payment of the lawful charge for such\ntransportation service which has been rendered to him, he obtains or\nattempts to obtain such service or avoids or attempts to avoid payment\ntherefor by force, intimidation, stealth, deception or mechanical\ntampering, or by unjustifiable failure or refusal to pay; or\n  4. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the\nlawful charge for any telecommunications service, including, without\nlimitation, cable television service, or any gas, steam, sewer, water,\nelectrical, telegraph or telephone service which is provided for a\ncharge or compensation, he obtains or attempts to obtain such service\nfor himself or another person or avoids or attempts to avoid payment\ntherefor by himself or another person by means of (a) tampering or\nmaking connection with the equipment of the supplier, whether by\nmechanical, electrical, acoustical or other means, or (b) offering for\nsale or otherwise making available, to anyone other than the provider of\na telecommunications service for such service provider's own use in the\nprovision of its service, any telecommunications decoder or descrambler,\na principal function of which defeats a mechanism of electronic signal\nencryption, jamming or individually addressed switching imposed by the\nprovider of any such telecommunications service to restrict the delivery\nof such service, or (c) any misrepresentation of fact which he knows to\nbe false, or (d) any other artifice, trick, deception, code or device.\nFor the purposes of this subdivision the telecommunications decoder or\ndescrambler described in paragraph (b) above or the device described in\nparagraph (d) above shall not include any non-decoding and\nnon-descrambling channel frequency converter or any television receiver\ntype-accepted by the federal communications commission. In any\nprosecution under this subdivision, proof that telecommunications\nequipment, including, without limitation, any cable television\nconverter, descrambler, or related equipment, has been tampered with or\notherwise intentionally prevented from performing its functions of\ncontrol of service delivery without the consent of the supplier of the\nservice, or that telecommunications equipment, including, without\nlimitation, any cable television converter, descrambler, receiver, or\nrelated equipment, has been connected to the equipment of the supplier\nof the service without the consent of the supplier of the service, shall\nbe presumptive evidence that the resident to whom the service which is\nat the time being furnished by or through such equipment has, with\nintent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a prospective\nor already rendered service, created or caused to be created with\nreference to such equipment, the condition so existing. A person who\ntampers with such a device or equipment without the consent of the\nsupplier of the service is presumed to do so with intent to avoid, or to\nenable another to avoid, payment for the service involved. In any\nprosecution under this subdivision, proof that any telecommunications\ndecoder or descrambler, a principal function of which defeats a\nmechanism of electronic signal encryption, jamming or individually\naddressed switching imposed by the provider of any such\ntelecommunications service to restrict the delivery of such service, has\nbeen offered for sale or otherwise made available by anyone other than\nthe supplier of such service shall be presumptive evidence that the\nperson offering such equipment for sale or otherwise making it available\nhas, with intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the\nlawful charge for such service, obtained or attempted to obtain such\nservice for himself or another person or avoided or attempted to avoid\npayment therefor by himself or another person; or\n  5. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the\nlawful charge for any telephone service which is provided for a charge\nor compensation he (a) sells, offers for sale or otherwise makes\navailable, without consent, an existing, canceled or revoked access\ndevice; or (b) uses, without consent, an existing, canceled or revoked\naccess device; or (c) knowingly obtains any telecommunications service\nwith fraudulent intent by use of an unauthorized, false, or fictitious\nname, identification, telephone number, or access device. For purposes\nof this subdivision access device means any telephone calling card\nnumber, credit card number, account number, mobile identification\nnumber, electronic serial number or personal identification number that\ncan be used to obtain telephone service.\n  6. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a\nprospective or already rendered service the charge or compensation for\nwhich is measured by a meter or other mechanical device, he tampers with\nsuch device or with other equipment related thereto, or in any manner\nattempts to prevent the meter or device from performing its measuring\nfunction, without the consent of the supplier of the service. In any\nprosecution under this subdivision, proof that a meter or related\nequipment has been tampered with or otherwise intentionally prevented\nfrom performing its measuring function without the consent of the\nsupplier of the service shall be presumptive evidence that the person to\nwhom the service which is at the time being furnished by or through such\nmeter or related equipment has, with intent to avoid payment by himself\nor another person for a prospective or already rendered service, created\nor caused to be created with reference to such meter or related\nequipment, the condition so existing. A person who tampers with such a\ndevice or equipment without the consent of the supplier of the service\nis presumed to do so with intent to avoid, or to enable another to\navoid, payment for the service involved; or\n  7. He knowingly accepts or receives the use and benefit of service,\nincluding gas, steam or electricity service, which should pass through a\nmeter but has been diverted therefrom, or which has been prevented from\nbeing correctly registered by a meter provided therefor, or which has\nbeen diverted from the pipes, wires or conductors of the supplier\nthereof. In any prosecution under this subdivision proof that service\nhas been intentionally diverted from passing through a meter, or has\nbeen intentionally prevented from being correctly registered by a meter\nprovided therefor, or has been intentionally diverted from the pipes,\nwires or conductors of the supplier thereof, shall be presumptive\nevidence that the person who accepts or receives the use and benefit of\nsuch service has done so with knowledge of the condition so existing; or\n  8. With intent to obtain, without the consent of the supplier thereof,\ngas, electricity, water, steam or telephone service, he tampers with any\nequipment designed to supply or to prevent the supply of such service\neither to the community in general or to particular premises; or\n  9. With intent to avoid payment of the lawful charge for admission to\nany theatre or concert hall, or with intent to avoid payment of the\nlawful charge for admission to or use of a chair lift, gondola, rope-tow\nor similar mechanical device utilized in assisting skiers in\ntransportation to a point of ski arrival or departure, he obtains or\nattempts to obtain such admission without payment of the lawful charge\ntherefor.\n  10. Obtaining or having control over labor in the employ of another\nperson, or of business, commercial or industrial equipment or facilities\nof another person, knowing that he is not entitled to the use thereof,\nand with intent to derive a commercial or other substantial benefit for\nhimself or a third person, he uses or diverts to the use of himself or a\nthird person such labor, equipment or facilities.\n  11. With intent to avoid payment by himself, herself, or another\nperson of the lawful charge for use of any computer, computer service,\nor computer network which is provided for a charge or compensation he or\nshe uses, causes to be used, accesses, or attempts to use or access a\ncomputer, computer service, or computer network and avoids or attempts\nto avoid payment therefor. In any prosecution under this subdivision\nproof that a person overcame or attempted to overcome any device or\ncoding system a function of which is to prevent the unauthorized use of\nsaid computer or computer service shall be presumptive evidence of an\nintent to avoid payment for the computer or computer service.\n  12. With intent to avoid payment for services rendered by a\nbarbershop, salon or beauty shop, he or she avoids or attempts to avoid\nsuch payment by unjustifiable failure or refusal to pay, by stealth, or\nby any misrepresentation of fact which he or she knows to be false.\n  Theft of services is a class A misdemeanor, provided, however, that\ntheft of cable television service as defined by the provisions of\nparagraphs (a), (c) and (d) of subdivision four of this section, and\nhaving a value not in excess of one hundred dollars by a person who has\nnot been previously convicted of theft of services under subdivision\nfour of this section is a violation, that theft of services under\nsubdivision nine of this section by a person who has not been previously\nconvicted of theft of services under subdivision nine of this section is\na violation, that theft of services under subdivision twelve of this\nsection by a person who has not previously been convicted of theft of\nservices under subdivision twelve of this section is a violation, and\nprovided further, however, that theft of services of any telephone\nservice under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision five of this section\nhaving a value in excess of one thousand dollars or by a person who has\nbeen previously convicted within five years of theft of services under\nparagraph (a) of subdivision five of this section is a class E felony.\n