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Computer Law

What are they up to this time?
April 2003

Bill Wood is an Assistant City Attorney, in the San Antonio City Attorney's Office. He practices real estate and technology law for the city .

The Texas Legislature in nearing the mid-point in its biennial session. More importantly, it is nearing the filing deadline for bills. Any bills filed after March 14^th must be either an emergency or only of local interest. Clearly, that is a significant date for those of us that follow technology law.

One interesting trend is noticeable in this session — there are significantly fewer internet related proposals than in previous sessions. It seems like the Internet bubble has burst on the legislative scene as well as on Wall Street.

Still, there are some interesting proposals. Those bills deal with everything from enacting a state right of privacy, unsolicited e-mail, protecting homeland security information and trying to prevent the dumping of surplus computers in landfills.

As previously noted in one of these articles, Rep. Hupp introduced HJR (House Joint Resolution) 18 which proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution recognizing a personal right of privacy. It received a hearing on March 3^rd before the State Affairs committee. The committee did not take final action and at press time it was left pending in the committee. It’s hard to tell if that is a good or bad sign. It may mean that the author asked that testimony be taken without a vote because the sponsor didn’t have enough affirmative votes committed to ensure passage. Or it could mean that not enough committee members were present to constitute a quorum and the Chairman simply held the bill until the next meeting.

HJR18 is as simple in wording as it could be powerful. The operative text consists of only thirty-five words.

The right of every individual to privacy is recognized and may not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest that may not be achieved in a less intrusive and more reasonable manner.

HJR18 is not really a computer or technology law bill. However, its implication to the content and control of information held by state and local governments in electronic form can not be underestimated. Specifically, it would provide a new layer of protection from disclosure under the Public Information Act for personal information held in government databases.

Several bills have been filed in the House and Senate to control the sending of unsolicited electronic e-mail. An example is House Bill (HB) 853 by Rep. West. It would set up a “no Offensive E-mail” list under the control of the Public Utilities Commission. The list, somewhat similar to the popular No Call list for telephone solicitations, would contain the names, addresses and electronic mail addresses of persons

. . .who object to receiving unsolicited offensive commercial electronic mail messages.

The bill defines ‘unsolicited offensive commercial electronic mail messages’ as a message

that is addressed to a recipient with whom the sender does not have an established business relationship. The term does not include electronic mail sent by an organization using electronic mail for the purposes of communicating exclusively with members, employees, or contractors of the organization.

This bill authorizes action by the Texas Attorney General and contains a $1,000 civil penalty for most violations and the possibility that the figure could be increased to $3,000 for each violation that was committed knowingly and willfully. It also authorizes private causes of action with presumption of damages in the amount of $500 per violation.

SB (Senate Bill) 1033 by Senator Shapleigh, HB 519 by Rep. Menendez and HB1282 by Rep. McCall also deal with unsolicited e-mail but attack from a different angle. Their bills would make it actionable if a person sends an e-mail with false or misleading information in the subject line or that uses another person’s Internet address without permission. Each message received by a Texas resident is considered a separate instance at $500 damages each.

SB 912 by Senator Ratliff is something entirely different. It amends the state’s program for disposition of surplus data processing equipment to allow state agencies, in cooperation with the State General Services Commission, to allow the transfer of equipment to

a nonprofit computer bank that solicits, stores, refurbishes, and redistributes used computer equipment to public school students and their families.

We can all benefit if used PC’s are kept out of the landfills. I recently heard that a typical PC and monitor contain more than three pounds of toxic materials. (CNET News.com reported on March 7, 2003 that US Representative M. Thompson from California has reintroduced a bill in Congress (H. R. 1165) that would impose a $10 fee on the sale of desktop monitors, CPU’s and notebooks and that the money raised would be used to fund recycling programs.

A few notes about other proposals
HB 1842 from Rep. West would require libraries to have separate adult and children’s Internet viewing areas.

SB 349 by Sen. Armbrister and HB 739 by Rep. Pitts would allow the state’s Department of Information Resources to obtain patents, trademarks and copyrights to protect intellectual property rights in its works.

HB 1191 by Rep. Allen would make certain security and vulnerability information confidential. Among other provisions the bill would protect information that

relates to an assessment by or for a governmental entity. . . of the risk or vulnerability of persons or property, including critical infrastructure, to an act of terrorism or related criminal activity.

Finally, no less than eight proposals deal with Homeland Security and the protection of critical systems. Specific topics include vulnerability assessments and disaster planning for airports, utilities, ports and strategic data processing facilities.

As stated above, this legislative session will be dealing with fewer proposals for new technology laws but it is clear that the topics are as important as ever. You can search for current status on these and other proposals at the Texas Legislature Online Website .