II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1196 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for clarification as to 

the meaning of access without authorization, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2013 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for clarification as to the meaning of access without authorization, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aaron’s Law Act of 

5 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFYING THAT ‘‘ACCESS WITHOUT AUTHORIZA2 TION’’ UNDER 18 U.S.C. 1030 MEANS CIR3 CUMVENTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL BAR4 RIERS IN ORDER TO GAIN UNAUTHORIZED 

5 ACCESS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1030(e)(6) of title 18, 

7 United States Code, is amended by— 

8 (1) striking ‘‘exceeds authorized access’’ and all 

9 that follows; and 

10 (2) inserting the following: ‘‘ ‘access without au11 thorization’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) to obtain information on a protected 

13 computer; 

14 ‘‘(B) that the accesser lacks authorization 

15 to obtain; and 

16 ‘‘(C) by knowingly circumventing one or 

17 more technological or physical measures that 

18 are designed to exclude or prevent unauthorized 

19 individuals from obtaining that information;’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1030 of 

21 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (d)(10), by striking ‘‘unau23 thorized access, or exceeding authorized access, to 

24 a’’ and inserting ‘‘access without authorization of a 

25 protected’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘exceeds authorized access’’ 

2 each place it appears. 

3 SEC. 3. ELIMINATING REDUNDANCY. 

4 Section 1030(a)(4) of title 18, United States Code, 

5 is repealed. 

6 SEC. 4. MAKING PENALTIES PROPORTIONAL TO CRIMES. 

7 (a) Section 1030(c)(2) of title 18, United States Code 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘conviction for another’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘subsequent’’; and 

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘such’’ after ‘‘attempt to 

13 commit’’; 

14 (2) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting after 

15 ‘‘financial gain’’ the following: ‘‘and the fair market 

16 value of the information obtained exceeds $5,000’’; 

17 (3) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘the of18 fense was committed’’ and all that follows through 

19 the semicolon, and inserting the following: ‘‘the of20 fense was committed in furtherance of any criminal 

21 act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the 

22 United States or of any State punishable by a term 

23 of imprisonment greater than one year, unless such 

24 criminal acts are prohibited by this section or such 


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1 State violation would be based solely on accessing in2 formation without authorization;’’; 

3 (4) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by inserting ‘‘fair 

4 market’’ before ‘‘value’’; and 

5 (5) in subparagraph (C)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘conviction for another’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘subsequent’’; and 

8 (B) by inserting ‘‘such’’ after ‘‘attempt to 

9 commit’’. 

Æ 


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