a provider of Internet access service to deliver
commercial electronic mail messages.
(B) PUBLICLY AVAILABILITY.—The policy
shall be publicly available by at least one of the
following methods:
(i) WEB
POSTING.—The policy is
clearly and conspicuously posted on a
World Wide Web site of the provider of
Internet access service, which has an Inter-
net domain name that is identical to the
Internet domain name of the electronic
mail address to which the rule or set of
rules applies.
(ii) NOTIFICATION
IN
COMPLIANCE
WITH TECHNOLOGICAL STANDARD.—Such
policy is made publicly available by the
provider of Internet access service in ac-
cordance with a technological standard
adopted by an appropriate Internet stand-
ards setting body (such as the Internet
Engineering Task Force) and recognized
by the Commission by rule as a fair stand-
ard.
(C) INTERNAL OPT-OUT LIST.—If the pol-
icy of a provider of Internet access service re-
quires compensation specifically for the trans-
mission of unsolicited commercial electronic
mail messages into its system, the provider
shall provide an option to its subscribers not to
receive any unsolicited commercial electronic
mail messages, except that such option is not
required for any subscriber who has agreed to
receive unsolicited commercial electronic mail
messages in exchange for discounted or free
Internet access service.
(3) OTHER
ENFORCEMENT.—Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to prevent or limit, in any
way, a provider of Internet access service from en-
forcing, pursuant to any remedy available under any
other provision of Federal, State, or local criminal or
civil law, a policy regarding unsolicited commercial
electronic mail messages.
(c) PROTECTION
OF INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE
PROVIDERS.—
(1) GOOD FAITH EFFORTS TO BLOCK TRANS-
MISSIONS.—A provider of Internet access service
shall not be liable, under any Federal, State, or local
civil or criminal law, for any action it takes in good
faith to block the transmission or receipt of unsolic-
ited commercial electronic mail messages.
(2) INNOCENT
RETRANSMISSION.—A provider
of Internet access service the facilities of which are
used only to handle, transmit, retransmit, or relay
an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message
transmitted in violation of subsection (a) shall not
be liable for any harm resulting from the trans-
mission or receipt of such message unless such pro-
vider permits the transmission or retransmission of
such message with actual knowledge that the trans-
mission is prohibited by subsection (a) or subsection
(b)(1).
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) GOVERNMENTAL ORDER.—
(1) NOTIFICATION OF ALLEGED VIOLATION.—
The Commission shall send a notification of alleged
violation to any person who violates section 5 if—
(A) a recipient or a provider of Internet
access service notifies the Commission, in such
form and manner as the Commission shall de-
termine, that a transmission has been received
in violation of section 5; or
(B) the Commission has other reason to
believe that such person has violated or is vio-
lating section 5.
(2) TERMS OF NOTIFICATION.—A notification
of alleged violation shall—
(A) identify the violation for which the no-
tification was issued;
(B) direct the initiator to refrain from fur-
ther violations of section 5;
(C) expressly prohibit the initiator (and
the agents or assigns of the initiator) from fur-
ther initiating unsolicited commercial electronic
mail messages in violation of section 5 to the
designated recipients or providers of Internet
access service, effective on the third day (ex-
cluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public
holidays) after receipt of the notification; and
(D) direct the initiator (and the agents or
assigns of the initiator) to delete immediately
the names and electronic mail addresses of the
designated recipients or providers from all mail-
ing lists owned or controlled by the initiator (or
such agents or assigns) and prohibit the
initiator (and such agents or assigns) from the
sale, lease, exchange, license, or other trans-
action involving mailing lists bearing the names
and electronic mail addresses of the designated
recipients or providers.
(3) COVERAGE OF MINOR CHILDREN BY NOTIFI-
CATION.—Upon request of a recipient of an elec-
tronic mail message transmitted in violation of sec-
tion 5, the Commission shall include in the notifica-
tion of alleged violation the names and electronic
mail addresses of any child of the recipient.
(4) ENFORCEMENT OF NOTIFICATION TERMS.—
(A) COMPLAINT.—If the Commission be-
lieves that the initiator (or the agents or as-
signs of the initiator) has failed to comply with
the terms of a notification issued under this
subsection, the Commission shall serve upon the
initiator (or such agents or assigns), by reg-
istered or certified mail, a complaint stating the
reasons for its belief and request that any re-
sponse thereto be filed in writing with the Com-
mission within 15 days after the date of such
service.
(B) HEARING AND ORDER.—If the Com-
mission, after an opportunity for a hearing on
the record, determines that the person upon
whom the complaint was served violated the
terms of the notification, the Commission shall
issue an order directing that person to comply
with the terms of the notification.
(C) PRESUMPTION.—For purposes of a de-
termination under subparagraph (B), receipt of
any transmission in violation of a notification of
alleged violation 30 days (excluding Saturdays,
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
district court of the United States within the juris-
diction of which any transmission is sent or received
in violation of a notification given under this sub-
section shall have jurisdiction, upon application by
the Attorney General, to issue an order commanding
compliance with such notification. Failure to observe
such order may be punishable by the court as con-
tempt 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 fol-
lowing actions:
(A) An action based on a violation of sec-
tion 5 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 mone-
tary 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 5, the court may, in its discretion,
increase 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 as-
sess reasonable costs, including reasonable attorneys’
fees, against any party.
(4) PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS.—At the
request 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 pro-
tective orders and conduct legal proceedings in such