I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1918 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2015 

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. POLIS, Mr. LIPINSKI, 

Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. O’ROURKE) introduced the following bill; which was 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 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFYING THAT ‘‘ACCESS WITHOUT AUTHORIZA2 TION’’ UNDER SECTION 1030 OF TITLE 18, 

3 UNITED STATES CODE, MEANS CIRCUMVEN4 TION OF TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS IN 

5 ORDER TO GAIN UNAUTHORIZED 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 (a) REPEAL.—Section 1030(a) of title 18, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by striking paragraph (4); and 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and 

8 (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1030 of 

10 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(a)(6)’’ 

13 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(a)(5)’’; 

14 and 

15 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

17 ‘‘subsection (a)(4) or (a)(7)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘subsection (a)(6)’’; and 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

20 ‘‘subsection (a)(4), or (a)(7)’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(6)’’; and 

22 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

23 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), in the mat24 ter preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘subVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:45 Apr 28, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1918.IH H1918

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1 section (a)(5)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub2 section (a)(4)(B)’’; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by strik4 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘subsection (a)(4)(A)’’; 

6 (iii) in subparagraph (C)(i), by strik7 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub8 section (a)(4)’’; 

9 (iv) in subparagraph (D)(i), by strik10 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(C)’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘subsection (a)(4)(C)’’; 

12 (v) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

13 ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub14 section (a)(4)(A)’’; 

15 (vi) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

16 ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub17 section (a)(4)(A)’’; and 

18 (vii) in subparagraph (G)(i), by strik19 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub20 section (a)(4)’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘subsection 

22 (a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(4)’’. 

23 SEC. 4. MAKING PENALTIES PROPORTIONAL TO CRIMES. 

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

25 Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

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

3 and inserting ‘‘subsequent’’; and 

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

5 commit’’; 

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

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

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

9 (3) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘the of10 fense was committed’’ and all that follows through 

11 the semicolon, and inserting the following: ‘‘the of12 fense was committed in furtherance of any criminal 

13 act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the 

14 United States or of any State punishable by a term 

15 of imprisonment greater than one year, unless such 

16 criminal acts are prohibited by this section or such 

17 State violation would be based solely on accessing in18 formation without authorization;’’; 

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

20 market’’ before ‘‘value’’; and 

21 (5) in subparagraph (C)— 

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

23 and inserting ‘‘subsequent’’; and 


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

2 commit’’. 

Æ 


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