days, Sundays, and legal public holidays) or
more after the effective date of the notification
shall create a rebuttable presumption that such
transmission was sent after such effective date.
(5) ENFORCEMENT BY COURT ORDER.—Any dis-
trict court of the United States within the jurisdiction
of which any transmission is sent or received in vio-
lation of a notification given under this subsection
shall have jurisdiction, upon application by the At-
torney General, to issue an order commanding com-
pliance with such notification. Failure to observe such
order may be punishable by the court as contempt
thereof.
(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—
(1) ACTIONS
AUTHORIZED.—A recipient or a
provider of Internet access service may, if otherwise
permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State,
bring in an appropriate court of that State, or may
bring in an appropriate Federal court if such laws or
rules do not so permit, either or both of the following
actions:
(A) An action based on a violation of sec-
tion 4 to enjoin such violation.
(B) An action to recover for actual mone-
tary loss from such a violation in an amount
equal to the greatest of—
(i) the amount of such actual monetary
loss; or
(ii) $500 for each such violation, not to
exceed a total of $50,000.
(2) ADDITIONAL REMEDIES.—If the court finds
that the defendant willfully, knowingly, or repeatedly
violated section 4, the court may, in its discretion, in-
crease the amount of the award to an amount equal
to not more than three times the amount available
under paragraph (1).
(3) ATTORNEY FEES.—In any such action, the
court may, in its discretion, require an undertaking
for the payment of the costs of such action, and assess
reasonable costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees,
against any party.
(4) PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS.—At the re-
quest of any party to an action brought pursuant to
this subsection or any other participant in such an
action, the court may, in its discretion, issue protec-
tive orders and conduct legal proceedings in such a
way as to protect the secrecy and security of the com-
puter, computer network, computer data, computer
program, and computer software involved in order to
prevent possible recurrence of the same or a similar
act by another person and to protect any trade secrets
of any such party or participant.
SEC. 6. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
(a) NO EFFECT ON CRIMINAL LAW.—Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to impair the enforcement of section
223 or 231 of the Communications Act of 1934, chapter 71
(relating to obscenity) or 110 (relating to sexual exploi-
tation of children) of title 18, United States Code, or any
other Federal criminal statute.
(b) STATE LAW.—No State or local government may
impose any civil liability for commercial activities or ac-
tions in interstate or foreign commerce in connection with
an activity or action described in section 4 of this Act that
is inconsistent with the treatment of such activities or ac-
tions under this Act, except that this Act shall not preempt
any civil remedy under State trespass or contract law or
under any provision of Federal, State, or local criminal law
or any civil remedy available under such law that relates
to acts of computer fraud or abuse arising from the unau-
thorized transmission of unsolicited commercial electronic
mail messages.
SEC. 7. STUDY OF EFFECTS OF UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL
ELECTRONIC MAIL.
Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall submit a
report to the Congress that provides a detailed analysis of
the effectiveness and enforcement of the provisions of this
Act and the need (if any) for the Congress to modify such
provisions.
SEC. 8 SEPARABILITY.
If any provision of this Act or the application thereof
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remain-
der of this Act and the application of such provision to
other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The provisions of this Act shall take effect 90 days after
the date of enactment of this Act.
Union Calendar No. 394
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3113
[Report No. 106–700]
A BILL
To protect individuals, families, and Internet serv-
ice providers from unsolicited and unwanted elec-
tronic mail.
JUNE 26, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed