Current Status Introducing Body:Senate Bill Number:217 Primary Sponsor:Passailaigue Committee Number:11 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Computer crimes Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Computer Document Number:217 Introduced Date:Jan 08, 1991 Last History Body:Senate Last History Date:Jan 08, 1991 Last History Type:Introduced and read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Passailaigue Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN
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217 Senate Jan 08, 1991 Introduced and read first 11
time, referred to Committee
217 Senate Sep 24, 1990 Prefiled, referred to 11
Committee
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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 16-16-50 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL RELIEF AND DAMAGES IN CASES INVOLVING COMPUTER CRIME; SECTION 16-16-60 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR RULES OF EVIDENCE AND STATUTES OF LIMITATION IN CASES INVOLVING COMPUTER CRIME; SECTION 16-16-70 SO AS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CIVIL LIABILITY AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR PERSONS COMMITTING CERTAIN COMPUTER CRIMES; AND SECTION 16-16-80 SO AS TO PROVIDE A DUTY TO REPORT COMPUTER CRIME VIOLATIONS AND TO PROVIDE IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY FOR THIS REPORTING WHEN DONE IN GOOD FAITH.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 16, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 16-16-50. (A) Any person whose property has been damaged or who has been injured by reason of a violation of this chapter may sue and recover for any damages sustained. 'Damages' for this purpose includes loss of profits.
(B) At the request of any party to an action brought pursuant to this section, a court may, in its discretion, conduct all legal proceedings in such a way as to protect the secrecy and security of the computer resources involved in order to prevent possible recurrence of computer crime and to protect any trade secrets of any party.
(C) This section may not be construed to limit any person's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed by law.
Section 16-16-60. Due to the transient nature of information in electrical and magnetic form, it may be impractical or impossible to convert the information into human readable form to show the information at the time the offense was committed. Also, due to the volume, storage media, and storage structure, it may be impractical or impossible to introduce the information in a form that can be used by humans other than a summary or an extraction of the information. Therefore, summarized or extracted information is admissible as best evidence if (1) the summarized or extracted information is a report or record that is used in the normal operation of a business or organization; or (2) the summarized or extracted information can be verified as an accurate and complete representation of the information relevant to the proceedings.
Summarized or extracted information can be in the form of paper or microforms at the convenience of the court.
Section 16-16-70. (A) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter for a second or subsequent time, in addition to the criminal fines and/or periods of incarceration provided by law, is civilly liable to the injured parties for three times the actual damages, if any, sustained by the injured parties. Upon a finding by the court of a violation of the provisions of this chapter, the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs of the suit to the person bringing the action under Section 16-16-50.
(B) The penalties for the offenses contained in this chapter are doubled for any person who in committing the violation endangers public safety. This includes, but is not limited to, interruption of a public utility and interruption, modification, or destruction of medical, medical research, or critical life support information.
Section 16-16-80. It is the duty of every person who has reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of this chapter has been committed to report promptly the suspected violation to law enforcement authorities. Any person who makes a report pursuant to this chapter or who participates in judicial proceedings resulting therefrom, acting in good faith, is immune from civil and criminal liability which might otherwise result by reason of such actions. In all such civil or criminal proceedings, good faith shall be rebuttably presumed."
SECTION 2. Section 15-3-530 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(10) an action under Section 16-16-50 for computer crimes, the period to begin to run after the plaintiff discovers or should have reasonably discovered the last act in the course of conduct constituting a violation of Chapter 16 of Title 16. Provided, however, the period for commencement of such an action shall not exceed five years from the last act in the course of conduct constituting a violation of Chapter 16 of Title 16."
SECTION 3. The court may grant such injunctive relief, as may be proper, to limit or ameliorate any person's injury caused by a violation of this chapter.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.