II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2063

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for the applicability

to operators of Internet Web sites of restrictions on the disclosure or

records and other information relating to the use of such sites, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 10, 2000

Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself and Mr. FEINGOLD) 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 the

applicability to operators of Internet Web sites of restrictions on the disclosure or records and other information

relating to the use of such sites, 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 ‘‘Secure Online Commu5 nication Enforcement Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCED PRIVACY PROTECTION FOR INFORMA2 TION ON COMPUTER NETWORKS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2703(b) of title 18,

4 United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (1)

5 and inserting the following new paragraph (1):

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A governmental entity may

7 require a provider of remote computing service to

8 disclose the contents of any electronic communica9 tion to which this paragraph is made applicable by

10 paragraph (2)—

11 ‘‘(A) pursuant to a warrant issued under

12 the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or

13 equivalent State warrant, a copy of which war14 rant shall be served on the subscriber or cus15 tomer of such remote computing service before

16 or at the same time the warrant is served on

17 the provider of the remote computing service; or

18 ‘‘(B) pursuant to a Federal or State grand

19 jury or trial subpoena, a copy of which sub20 poena shall be served on the subscriber or cus21 tomer of such remote computing service under

22 circumstances allowing the subscriber or cus23 tomer a meaningful opportunity to challenge

24 the subpoena.’’.

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Paragraph (2) of

26 that section is amended—
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1 (1) by indenting the paragraph 2 ems;

2 (2) by inserting ‘‘APPLICABILITY.—’’ after

3 ‘‘(2)’’; and

4 (3) by indenting subparagraphs (A) and (B) 4

5 ems.

6 SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF SECURE ON-LINE COMMUNICA7 TIONS.

8 (a) APPLICABILITY OF LIMITATIONS ON DISCLOSURE

9 OF COMMUNICATION RECORDS.—Paragraph (1) of section

10 2703(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

11 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘, or an operator of an

13 Internet Web site (including an agent of such

14 operator) or other third party,’’ after ‘‘remote

15 computing service’’; and

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘or Internet Web site’’

17 after ‘‘of such service’’; and

18 (2) in subparagraph (B)—

19 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)—

20 (i) by inserting ‘‘, or an operator of

21 an Internet Web site (including an agent

22 of such operator) or other third party,’’

23 after ‘‘remote computing service’’; and

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or Internet Web

25 site’’ after ‘‘of such service’’; and
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1 (B) in clause (iv), by inserting ‘‘or oper2 ator’’ after ‘‘of such provider’’.

3 (b) DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNICATION RECORDS TO

4 NON-GOVERNMENT ENTITIES.—Paragraph (1)(A) of

5 such section is further amended by striking ‘‘other than

6 a government entity.’’ and inserting ‘‘other than a govern7 ment entity only if the disclosure is—

8 ‘‘(i) necessary to initiate, provide, bill, or collect

9 for such service or for access to or use of such Inter10 net Web site;

11 ‘‘(ii) necessary to protect the rights or property

12 of the provider of such service or Internet Web site;

13 ‘‘(iii) made at the request of the subscriber or

14 customer;

15 ‘‘(iv) made with the affirmative consent of the

16 subscriber or customer given at the time the disclo17 sure is sought; or

18 ‘‘(v) required by law.’’.

19 (c) INFORMATION COVERED BY LIMITATIONS ON

20 DISCLOSURE.—Such section is further amended in para21 graphs (1)(A) and (1)(B) by inserting before the end pa22 renthesis the following: ‘‘, but including information gen23 erated in the process of accessing or otherwise using the

24 Internet’’.
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1 (d) DISCLOSURE OF AGGREGATE INFORMATION.—

2 Such section is further amended by adding at the end the

3 following new paragraph:

4 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this subsection may be construed to

5 prohibit a provider of electronic communication service or

6 remote computing service, operator of an Internet Web

7 site (including an agent of such operator), or third party

8 from using, disclosing, or permitting access to aggregate

9 customer or subscriber information from which individual

10 customer or subscriber information and characteristics

11 have been removed.’’.

12 (e) PROTECTION OF SERVICE.—Such section is fur13 ther amended by adding at the end the following new para14 graph:

15 ‘‘(4) A provider of electronic communication service

16 or remote computing service or operator of an Internet

17 Web site may not terminate the provision of such service

18 or access to or use of such Internet Web site to an indi19 vidual who refuses to consent to the disclosure of records

20 or other information under paragraph (1)(A)(iv) as a re21 sult of such refusal.’’.

22 (f) FEDERAL PREEMPTION.—Such section is further

23 amended by adding at the end the following new para24 graph:
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1 ‘‘(5) This subsection preempts any State or local law

2 regarding the disclosure by providers of electronic commu3 nication service or remote computing service and operators

4 of Internet Web sites of records or other information cov5 ered by this subsection.’’.

6 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The subsection

7 heading of such section is amended by striking ‘‘OR RE8 MOTE COMPUTING SERVICE’’ and inserting ‘‘, REMOTE

9 COMPUTING SERVICE, OR INTERNET WEB SITE’’.

10 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

11 this section shall take effect 180 days after the date of

12 enactment.

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