Bill Text: TX SB841 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the prosecution of and punishment for the offense of breach of computer security.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-25 - House passage as amended reported [SB841 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB841-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Patrick, Seliger S.B. No. 841
(In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2011; March 1, 2011,
read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
April 27, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 27, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 841 By: Patrick

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of and punishment for the offense of
breach of computer security.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 33.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subdivisions (10-a) and (14-a) to read as follows:
(10-a) "Critical infrastructure facility" means:
(A) a chemical manufacturing facility;
(B) a refinery;
(C) an electrical power generating facility,
substation, switching station, electrical control center, or
electrical transmission or distribution facility;
(D) a water intake structure, water treatment
facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station;
(E) a natural gas transmission compressor
station;
(F) a liquid natural gas terminal or storage
facility;
(G) a telecommunications central switching
office;
(H) a port, railroad switching yard, trucking
terminal, or other freight transportation facility;
(I) a gas processing plant, including a plant
used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas;
(J) a transmission facility used by a federally
licensed radio or television station; or
(K) a cable television or video service provider
headend.
(14-a) "Identifying information" has the meaning
assigned by Section 32.51.
SECTION 2. Section 33.02, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections (b-1),
(b-2), and (e) to read as follows:
(b) An offense under Subsection (a) [this section] is a
Class B misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony
if:
(1) the defendant has been previously convicted two or
more times of an offense under this chapter; or
(2) the computer, computer network, or computer system
is owned by the government or a critical infrastructure facility.
(b-1) A person commits an offense if with the intent to
obtain [unless in committing the offense the actor knowingly
obtains] a benefit, defraud [defrauds] or harm [harms] another, or
alter [alters], damage [damages], or delete [deletes] property, the
person knowingly accesses a computer, computer network, or computer
system without the effective consent of the owner.
(b-2) An offense under Subsection (b-1) [in which event the
offense] is:
(1) [a Class A misdemeanor if the aggregate amount
involved is less than $1,500;
[(2) a state jail felony if:
[(A) the aggregate amount involved is $1,500 or
more but less than $20,000; or
[(B) the aggregate amount involved is less than
$1,500 and the defendant has been previously convicted two or more
times of an offense under this chapter;
[(3)] a felony of the third degree if the aggregate
amount involved is [$20,000 or more but] less than $100,000;
(2) [(4)] a felony of the second degree if:
(A) the aggregate amount involved is $100,000 or
more but less than $200,000; [or]
(B) the aggregate amount involved is any amount
less than $200,000 and the computer, computer network, or computer
system is owned by the government or a critical infrastructure
facility; or
(C) the actor obtains the identifying
information of another by accessing only one computer, computer
network, or computer system; or
(3) [(5)] a felony of the first degree if:
(A) the aggregate amount involved is $200,000 or
more; or
(B) the actor obtains the identifying
information of another by accessing more than one computer,
computer network, or computer system.
(d) A person who is [his] subject to prosecution under this
section and any other section of this code may be prosecuted under
either or both sections.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
the person acted with the intent to facilitate a lawful seizure or
search of, or lawful access to, a computer, computer network, or
computer system for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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