44-7302

44-7302. Prohibited activities;
applicability

A. It is unlawful for any person who is not an owner or operator of a computer to
transmit computer software to a computer, with actual knowledge or with conscious
avoidance of actual knowledge, and to use the software to do any of the following:

1. Modify, through intentionally deceptive means, settings that control any of the
following:

(a) The page that appears when an owner or operator of a computer launches an
internet browser or similar computer software used to access and navigate the internet.

(b) The default provider or web proxy that an owner or operator of a computer uses
to access or search the internet.

2. Collect, through intentionally deceptive means, personally identifiable
information:

(a) Through the use of a keystroke logging function that records all keystrokes
made by an authorized user who uses the computer and transfers that information from the
computer to another person.

(b) In a manner that correlates the information with data respecting all or
substantially all of the web sites visited by an owner or operator of the computer, other
than web sites operated by the person collecting the information.

(c) With respect only to information described in section 44-7301, paragraph 9, by
extracting such information from the hard drive of an owner or operator's computer.

3. Prevent, through intentionally deceptive means, an owner or operator's
reasonable efforts to block the installation or execution of, or to disable, computer
software by causing software that an owner or operator of the computer has properly
removed or disabled automatically to reinstall or reactivate on the computer.

4. Intentionally misrepresent that computer software will be uninstalled or
disabled by an owner or operator's action.

5. Through intentionally deceptive means, remove, disable or render inoperative
security, antispyware or antivirus computer software installed on the computer.

6. Take control of the computer by:

(a) Accessing or using the modem or internet service for the computer for the
purpose of causing damage to the computer or causing an owner or operator to incur
financial charges for a service that the owner or operator of the computer has not
authorized.

(b) Opening multiple, sequential, stand alone advertisements in an owner or
operator's internet browser without the authorization of an owner or operator and that a
reasonable computer user cannot close without turning off the computer or closing the
internet browser.

7. Modify any of the following settings related to the computer's access to, or use
of, the internet:

(a) Settings that protect information about an owner or operator of the computer
for the purpose of stealing personally identifiable information of the owner or operator.

(b) Security settings for the purpose of causing damage to a computer.

8. Prevent an owner or operator's reasonable efforts to block the installation of,
or to disable, computer software, by doing either of the following:

(a) Presenting the owner or operator with an option to decline installation of
computer software with knowledge that, when the option is selected, the installation
nevertheless proceeds.

(b) Falsely representing that computer software has been disabled.

B. It is unlawful for any person who is not an owner or operator of a computer to
do either of the following with regard to the computer:

1. Induce an owner or operator to install a computer software component on the
computer by intentionally misrepresenting the extent to which installing the software is
necessary for security or privacy reasons or in order to open, view or play a particular
type of content.

2. Deceptively cause the execution on the computer of a computer software component
with the intent of causing an owner or operator to use the component in a manner that
violates any other provision of this section.

C. Nothing in this section applies to any monitoring of, or interaction with, a
subscriber's internet or other network connection or service, or a computer, by a
telecommunications carrier, cable operator, computer hardware or software provider or
provider of information service or interactive computer service for network or computer
security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, maintenance, repair, authorized
updates of software or system firmware, authorized remote system management or detection
or prevention of the unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal activities in
connection with a network, service or computer software, including scanning for and
removing software prescribed under this chapter.