Public Act 93-0199

HB2972 Enrolled                      LRB093 04115 WGH 04155 b

    AN ACT concerning electronic mail.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.   The  Electronic  Mail  Act  is  amended  by
changing Section 10 as follows:

    (815 ILCS 511/10)
    Sec.  10.  Unsolicited  or  misleading  electronic  mail;
prohibition.
    (a)  No  individual or entity may initiate or cause to be
initiated an unsolicited electronic mail advertisement if the
electronic  mail  advertisement  (i)  uses  a  third  party's
Internet domain name without permission of the  third  party,
or otherwise misrepresents any information in identifying the
point  of  origin  or  the transmission path of an electronic
mail advertisement  or  (ii)  contains  false  or  misleading
information in the subject line.
    (a-5)  An  initiator  of  an  unsolicited electronic mail
advertisement must establish a toll-free telephone number  or
valid sender-operated return electronic mail address that the
recipient  of  the  unsolicited electronic mail advertisement
may call or electronically mail to notify the sender  not  to
electronically  mail  any further unsolicited electronic mail
advertisements.
    (a-10)  An initiator of an  unsolicited  electronic  mail
advertisement  is  prohibited from selling or transferring in
any manner the electronic mail address of any person who  has
notified  the  initiator  that  the  person  does not want to
receive   any    further    unsolicited    electronic    mail
advertisements.
    (a-15)  Each  unsolicited electronic mail advertisement's
subject line shall include "ADV:" as its first 4  characters.
For   any  unsolicited  electronic  mail  advertisement  that
contains information regarding the lease, sale, rental,  gift
offer,  or  other disposition of any realty, goods, services,
or extension of credit, that may only be  viewed,  purchased,
rented,  leased,  or  held  in possession by an individual 18
years of age and older, the subject line of  each  and  every
message shall include "ADV:ADLT" as the first 8 characters.
    (b)  This Section applies when the unsolicited electronic
mail  advertisement  is delivered to an Illinois resident via
an electronic mail service provider's  service  or  equipment
located in this State.
    (c)  Any  person,  other  than an electronic mail service
provider, who  suffers  actual  damages  as  a  result  of  a
violation  of  this  Section  committed  by any individual or
entity may bring an action against such individual or entity.
The injured person may recover attorney's fees and costs, and
may elect, in lieu of recovery of actual damages, to  recover
the  lesser  of $10 for each and every unsolicited electronic
mail advertisement transmitted in violation of this  Section,
or  $25,000  per  day.   The  injured person shall not have a
cause of action against the electronic mail service  provider
that   merely   transmits  the  unsolicited  electronic  mail
advertisement over its computer network.
    (d)  Any electronic mail  service  provider  who  suffers
actual  damages  as  a  result of a violation of this Section
committed by any individual or entity  may  bring  an  action
against  such  individual  or entity.  The injured person may
recover attorney's fees and costs, and may elect, in lieu  of
recovery  of actual damages, to recover the lesser of $10 for
each and  every  unsolicited  electronic  mail  advertisement
transmitted in violation of this Section, or $25,000 per day.
    (e)  The   provisions   of  this  Section  shall  not  be
construed  to  limit  any  person's  right  to   pursue   any
additional civil remedy otherwise allowed by law.
    (f)  An  electronic  mail  service provider may, upon its
own initiative, block the receipt or transmission through its
service of any unsolicited electronic mail advertisement that
it reasonably believes is, or will be, sent in  violation  of
this Section.
    (g)  No  electronic  mail  service  provider  may be held
liable for any action voluntarily  taken  in  good  faith  to
block  the receipt or transmission through its service of any
unsolicited electronic mail advertisement which it reasonably
believes is, or will be, sent in violation of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 91-233, eff. 1-1-00.)