New Jersey Senate Passes Anti-Spam Bill

The New Jersey Senate yesterday approved a bill its sponsors claim expands the federal Can-Spam Act.

Dubbed the New Jersey Can Spam Act, or S-1129, the bill would establish criminal and civil penalties for activities typically involved in spamming.

The bill would prohibit using a computer located in New Jersey to relay or transmit multiple commercial spam messages to mislead recipients or service providers about their origin. It would also ban registering for multiple e-mail addresses or domain names with false information to transmit spam and accessing another computer without authorization and using it to transmit multiple spam e-mails.

All violations of the bill would be at least a fourth degree fine with a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $1000 fine per violation. Spammers committing larger numbers of violations would be charged with a third degree crime, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

If a violation involves a felony or is a repeat offense, the charge would be a crime of the second degree with a penalty to up to 10 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.

The bill would also authorize New Jersey’s Attorney General and Internet service providers to take civil action against spammers within two years of the violation. In actions brought by the Attorney General, the bill would authorize the court to award damages and a civil penalty of up to $25,000 per day, or between $2 to $8 per commercial electronic mail message sent in violation of the bill.

The bill was approved 37-0 and now goes to the Assembly.