SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless Telephone Pro-
tection Act’’.
SEC. 2. FRAUD AND RELATED ACTIVITY IN CONNECTION
WITH COUNTERFEIT ACCESS DEVICES.
(a) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—Section 1029(a) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (10); and
(2) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(8) knowingly and with intent to defraud uses,
produces, traffics in, has control or custody of, or pos-
sesses a scanning receiver;
‘‘(9) knowingly uses, produces, traffics in, has
control or custody of, or possesses hardware or soft-
ware, knowing it has been configured for altering or
modifying a telecommunications instrument so that
such instrument may be used to obtain unauthorized
access to telecommunications services; or’’.
(b) PENALTIES.—
(1) GENERALLY.—Section 1029(c) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—The punishment for an offense
under subsection (a) of this section is—
‘‘(1) in the case of an offense that does not occur
after a conviction for another offense under this sec-
tion—
‘‘(A) if the offense is under paragraph (1),
(2), (3), (6), (7), or (10) of subsection (a), a fine
under this title or imprisonment for not more
than 10 years, or both; and
‘‘(B) if the offense is under paragraph (4),
(5), (8), or (9), of subsection (a), a fine under
this title or imprisonment for not more than 15
years, or both; and
‘‘(2) in the case of an offense that occurs after a
conviction for another offense under this section, a
fine under this title or imprisonment for not more
than 20 years, or both.’’.
(2) ATTEMPTS.—Section 1029(b)(1) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘pun-
ished as provided in subsection (c) of this section’’
and inserting ‘‘subject to the same penalties as those
prescribed for the offense attempted’’.
(c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1029(e)(8) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by inserting before the pe-
riod ‘‘or to intercept an electronic serial number, mobile
identification number, or other identifier of any tele-
communications service, equipment, or instrument’’.
(d) APPLICABILITY OF NEW SECTION 1029(a)(9).—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 1029 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(g) It is not a violation of subsection (a)(9) for an
officer, employee, or agent of, or a person under contract
with, a facilities-based carrier, for the purpose of protecting
the property or legal rights of that carrier, to use, produce,
have custody or control of, or possess hardware or software
configured as described in that subsection (a)(9).’’.
(2) DEFINITION.—Section 1029(e) of title 18,
United States Code is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (6);
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (7) and inserting a semicolon;
(C) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(9) the term ‘facilities-based carrier’ means an
entity that owns communications transmission facili-
ties, is responsible for the operation and maintenance
of those facilities, and holds an operating license
issued by the Federal Communications Commission
under the authority of title III of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934.’’.
(e) AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDE-
LINES FOR WIRELESS TELEPHONE CLONING.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Pursuant to its authority
under section 994 of title 28, United States Code, the
United States Sentencing Commission shall review
and amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and the
policy statements of the Commission, if appropriate,
to provide an appropriate penalty for offenses involv-
ing the cloning of wireless telephones (including of-
fenses involving an attempt or conspiracy to clone a
wireless telephone).
(2) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In carrying
out this subsection, the Commission shall consider,
with respect to the offenses described in paragraph
(1)—
(A) the range of conduct covered by the of-
fenses;
(B) the existing sentences for the offenses;
(C) the extent to which the value of the loss
caused by the offenses (as defined in the Federal
sentencing guidelines) is an adequate measure
for establishing penalties under the Federal sen-
tencing guidelines;
(D) the extent to which sentencing enhance-
ments within the Federal sentencing guidelines
and the court’s authority to sentence above the
applicable guideline range are adequate to en-
sure punishment at or near the maximum pen-
alty for the most egregious conduct covered by
the offenses;
(E) the extent to which the Federal sentenc-
ing guideline sentences for the offenses have been
constrained by statutory maximum penalties;
(F) the extent to which Federal sentencing
guidelines for the offenses adequately achieve the
purposes of sentencing set forth in section
3553(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code;
(G) the relationship of Federal sentencing
guidelines for the offenses to the Federal sentenc-
ing guidelines for other offenses of comparable se-
riousness; and
(H) any other factor that the Commission
considers to be appropriate.
Union Calendar No. 239
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2460
[Report No. 105–418]
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, with
respect to scanning receivers and similar devices.
FEBRUARY 24, 1998
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commit-
tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
ordered to be printed