MASSACHUSETTS

PART IV.CRIMES,PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES

TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS

CHAPTER 26

33A. Fraudulent Obtaining of Commercial Computer Service; Penalty.

   Whoever, with intent to defraud, obtains, or attempts to obtain, or aids or abets another in

obtaining, any commercial computer service by false representation, false statement, unauthorized charging

to the account of another, by installing or tampering with any facilities or equipment or by any other

means, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than two and one-half

years or by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars, or both.  As used in this section, the words

"commercial computer service" shall mean the use of computers, computer systems, computer programs

or computer networks, or the access to or copying of the data, where such use, access or copying is offered

by the proprietor or operator of the computer, system, program, network or data to others on a

subscription or other basis for monetary consideration.

1994 REGULAR SESSION CHAPTER 168 SENATE BILL NO. 747

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: SECTION 1. Chapter 233 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 79J the following section:--

   Section 79K. A duplicate of a computer data file or program file shall be admissible in

evidence as the original itself unless (1) a genuine question is raised as to the authenticity of the original

or (2) in the circumstances it would be unfair to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original.



   For the purposes of this section, if data is stored in a computer or similar device, any printout or other

output readable by sight, shown to reflect the data accurately, shall be an original.



   A "duplicate of a computer data file or program file" shall mean a file produced by the same impression

as the original, or from the same matrix, or by mechanical or electronic recording, in the normal way such

a duplicate is produced on a computer, or by other equivalent techniques that accurately reproduce the

original.

SECTION 2. Chapter 266 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 33 the following section:--

   Section 33A. Whoever, with intent to defraud, obtains, or attempts to obtain, or aids or abets another

in obtaining, any commercial computer service by false representation, false statement, unauthorized

charging to the account of another, by installing or tampering with any facilities or equipment or by any

other means, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than two and

one-half years or by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars, or both.  As used in this section, the

words "commercial computer service" shall mean the use of computers, computer systems, computer

programs or computer networks, or the access to or copying of the data, where such use, access or copying

is offered by the proprietor or operator of the computer, system, program, network or data to others on

a subscription or other basis for monetary consideration.                                                                





       
SECTION 3. Said chapter 266 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 120E, inserted

by chapter 218 of the acts of 1993, the following section:--


   Section 120F. Whoever, without authorization, knowingly accesses a computer system by

any means, or after gaining access to a computer system by any means knows that such access is not

authorized and fails to terminate such access, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction

for not more than thirty days or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or both.



   The requirement of a password or other authentication to gain access shall constitute notice that access

is limited to authorized users.



      
SECTION 4. Section 127 of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby

amended by adding the following sentence:--


   The words "personal property", as used in this section, shall also include electronically processed or

stored data, either tangible or intangible, and data while in transit.



      
SECTION 5. Chapter 277 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 58A

the following section:--


   Section 58A 1/2. The crimes described in sections thirty-three A and one hundred and twenty F of

chapter two hundred and sixty-six and section one hundred and twenty-seven of said chapter two hundred

and sixty-six when the personal property involved is electronically processed or stored data, either tangible

or intangible, and data while in transit, may be prosecuted and punished in any county where the

defendant was physically located at the time of the violation, or where the electronic data was physically

located at the time of the violation.







       
PART IV. CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES                   

                                                              TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS                     

                                                            CHAPTER 266. Crimes against Property



120F. Unauthorized Accessing of Computer Systems; Penalty; Password Requirement as Notice.


   Whoever, without authorization, knowingly accesses a computer system by any means, or after

gaining access to a computer system by any means knows that such access is not authorized and fails to

terminate such access, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than

thirty days or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or both.



   The requirement of a password or other authentication to gain access shall constitute notice that access

is limited to authorized users.