Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee
Filed: 3/22/2007
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 563
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 563 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
5 | Internet Predator Awareness Act. | ||||||
6 | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that: | ||||||
7 | (1) Criminals and sex offenders use online dating | ||||||
8 | services to prey upon the citizens of this State. | ||||||
9 | (2) Residents of this State need to be informed when | ||||||
10 | viewing websites of online dating services as to potential | ||||||
11 | risks to personal safety associated with online dating. | ||||||
12 | Also, requiring disclosures in the form of guidelines for | ||||||
13 | safer dating and informing residents as to whether a | ||||||
14 | criminal background screening has been conducted on | ||||||
15 | members of an online dating service fulfills a compelling | ||||||
16 | State interest to increase public awareness of the possible |
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1 | risks associated with Internet dating activities.
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2 | Section 10. Definitions.
As used in this Act: | ||||||
3 | "Communicate", "communicating", or "communication" means | ||||||
4 | free-form text authored by a member or real-time voice | ||||||
5 | communication through an online dating service provider. | ||||||
6 | "Criminal background screening" means a search for a | ||||||
7 | person's felony and sexual offense convictions initiated by an | ||||||
8 | online dating service provider and conducted by one of the | ||||||
9 | following means: | ||||||
10 | (1) by searching available and regularly updated | ||||||
11 | government public record databases for felony and sexual | ||||||
12 | offense convictions so long as such databases, in the | ||||||
13 | aggregate, provide substantial national coverage; or | ||||||
14 | (2) by searching a database maintained by a private | ||||||
15 | vendor that is regularly updated and is maintained in the | ||||||
16 | United States with substantial national coverage. | ||||||
17 | "Department" means the Department of State Police. | ||||||
18 | "Illinois member" means a member, as defined in this | ||||||
19 | Section, who provides an Illinois billing address or zip code | ||||||
20 | when registering with the provider. | ||||||
21 | "Member" means a person who submits to an online dating | ||||||
22 | service provider the information required by the provider to | ||||||
23 | access the provider's service for the purpose of engaging in | ||||||
24 | dating or participating in compatibility evaluations with | ||||||
25 | other persons or obtaining matrimonial matching services. |
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1 | "Online dating service provider" or "provider" means a | ||||||
2 | person engaged in the business of offering or providing to its | ||||||
3 | members access to dating and compatibility evaluations between | ||||||
4 | persons or matrimonial matching services through the Internet. | ||||||
5 | "Sexual offense conviction" means a conviction for an | ||||||
6 | offense that would qualify the offender for registration as a | ||||||
7 | sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act or under | ||||||
8 | another jurisdiction's equivalent statute. | ||||||
9 | Section 15. Provider safety awareness disclosures. An | ||||||
10 | online dating service provider offering services to Illinois | ||||||
11 | members shall:
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12 | (1) Provide a safety awareness notification with, at a | ||||||
13 | minimum, information that includes a list and description | ||||||
14 | of safety measures reasonably designed to increase | ||||||
15 | awareness of safer dating practices as determined by the | ||||||
16 | provider. Examples of such notifications include: | ||||||
17 | (A) "Anyone who is able to commit identity theft | ||||||
18 | can also falsify a dating profile." | ||||||
19 | (B) "There is no substitute for acting with caution | ||||||
20 | when communicating with a stranger who wants to meet | ||||||
21 | you." | ||||||
22 | (C) "Never include your last name, e-mail address, | ||||||
23 | home address, phone number, place of work, or any other | ||||||
24 | identifying information in your online profile or | ||||||
25 | initial e-mail messages. Stop communicating with |
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1 | anyone who pressures you for personal or financial | ||||||
2 | information or attempts in any way to trick you into | ||||||
3 | revealing it." | ||||||
4 | (D) "If you choose to have a face-to-face meeting | ||||||
5 | with another member, always tell a family member or a | ||||||
6 | friend where you are going and when you will return. | ||||||
7 | Never agree to be picked up at your home. Always | ||||||
8 | provide your own transportation to and from your date | ||||||
9 | and meet in a public place at a time with many people | ||||||
10 | around." | ||||||
11 | (2) If an online dating service provider does not | ||||||
12 | conduct criminal background screenings on its members, the | ||||||
13 | provider shall disclose, clearly and conspicuously, to all | ||||||
14 | Illinois members that the online dating service provider | ||||||
15 | does not conduct criminal background screenings. The | ||||||
16 | disclosure shall be provided when an e-mail or other text | ||||||
17 | message is sent or received by an Illinois member, on the | ||||||
18 | profile describing a member to an Illinois member, and on | ||||||
19 | the provider's website pages used when an Illinois member | ||||||
20 | signs up. A disclosure under this item (2) shall be in | ||||||
21 | bold, capital letters in at least 12-point type. | ||||||
22 | (3) If an online dating service provider conducts | ||||||
23 | criminal background screenings on all of its communicating | ||||||
24 | members, the provider shall disclose, clearly and | ||||||
25 | conspicuously, to all Illinois members that the online | ||||||
26 | dating service provider conducts a criminal background |
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1 | screening on each member prior to permitting an Illinois | ||||||
2 | member to communicate with another member. The disclosure | ||||||
3 | shall be provided on the provider's website pages used when | ||||||
4 | an Illinois member signs up. A disclosure under this item | ||||||
5 | (3) shall be in bold, capital letters in at least 12-point | ||||||
6 | type. | ||||||
7 | (4) If an online dating service provider conducts | ||||||
8 | criminal background screenings, the provider shall | ||||||
9 | disclose (i) that background screenings of applicants are | ||||||
10 | not perfect and there is no way to guarantee that the name | ||||||
11 | provided by a person to be used in a background screening | ||||||
12 | is the person's true identity; (ii) that not all criminal | ||||||
13 | records are publicly available; (iii) that
the screenings | ||||||
14 | may not identify every member who has a felony or sexual | ||||||
15 | offense conviction and members should participate in the | ||||||
16 | service at their own risk and use caution when | ||||||
17 | communicating with other members; and (iv) whether the | ||||||
18 | provider has a policy allowing a member who has been | ||||||
19 | identified as having a felony or sexual offense conviction | ||||||
20 | to have access to its service to communicate with any | ||||||
21 | Illinois member.
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22 | Section 20. Civil penalties.
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23 | (a) An online dating service provider that registers | ||||||
24 | Illinois members must comply with the provisions of this Act. | ||||||
25 | (b) Failure to comply with the disclosure requirements of |
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1 | this Act shall constitute an unlawful practice under the | ||||||
2 | Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Each | ||||||
3 | failure to provide a required disclosure constitutes a separate | ||||||
4 | violation. | ||||||
5 | Section 25. Exclusions.
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6 | (a) An Internet access service or other Internet service | ||||||
7 | provider does not violate this Act solely as a result of | ||||||
8 | serving as an intermediary for the transmission of a | ||||||
9 | communication between members of an online dating service | ||||||
10 | provider. | ||||||
11 | (b) An Internet access service or other Internet service | ||||||
12 | provider shall not be considered an online dating service | ||||||
13 | provider within the meaning of this Act as to any online dating | ||||||
14 | service website provided by another person or entity.
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15 | Section 30. Severability. If any provision of this Act or | ||||||
16 | its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, | ||||||
17 | the invalidity of that provision or application does not affect | ||||||
18 | other provisions or applications of this Act that can be given | ||||||
19 | effect without the invalid provision or application.
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20 | Section 80. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | ||||||
21 | Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2Z as follows:
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22 | (815 ILCS 505/2Z) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 262Z)
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1 | Sec. 2Z. Violations of other Acts. Any person who knowingly | ||||||
2 | violates
the Automotive Repair Act, the Automotive Collision | ||||||
3 | Repair Act,
the Home Repair and Remodeling Act,
the Dance | ||||||
4 | Studio Act,
the Physical Fitness Services Act,
the Hearing | ||||||
5 | Instrument Consumer Protection Act,
the Illinois Union Label | ||||||
6 | Act,
the Job Referral and Job Listing Services Consumer | ||||||
7 | Protection Act,
the Travel Promotion Consumer Protection Act,
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8 | the Credit Services Organizations Act,
the Automatic Telephone | ||||||
9 | Dialers Act,
the Pay-Per-Call Services Consumer Protection | ||||||
10 | Act, the Internet Predator Awareness Act,
the Telephone | ||||||
11 | Solicitations Act,
the Illinois Funeral or Burial Funds Act,
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12 | the Cemetery Care Act,
the Safe and Hygienic Bed Act,
the | ||||||
13 | Pre-Need Cemetery Sales Act,
the High Risk Home Loan Act, the | ||||||
14 | Payday Loan Reform Act, the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act, | ||||||
15 | subsection (a) or (b) of Section 3-10 of the
Cigarette Tax Act, | ||||||
16 | the Payday Loan Reform Act, subsection
(a) or (b) of Section | ||||||
17 | 3-10 of the Cigarette Use Tax Act, the Electronic
Mail Act, | ||||||
18 | paragraph (6)
of
subsection (k) of Section 6-305 of the | ||||||
19 | Illinois Vehicle Code, Article 3 of the Residential Real | ||||||
20 | Property Disclosure Act, the Automatic Contract Renewal Act, or | ||||||
21 | the Personal Information Protection Act commits an unlawful | ||||||
22 | practice within the meaning of this Act.
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23 | (Source: P.A. 93-561, eff. 1-1-04; 93-950, eff. 1-1-05; 94-13, | ||||||
24 | eff. 12-6-05; 94-36, eff. 1-1-06; 94-280, eff. 1-1-06; 94-292, | ||||||
25 | eff. 1-1-06; 94-822, eff. 1-1-07.)
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1 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | ||||||
2 | 1, 2008.".
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