2000
[DOCID: f:s493enr.txt]
S.493
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
eight
An Act
To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to scanning
receivers and similar devices.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Wireless Telephone Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. FRAUD AND RELATED ACTIVITY IN CONNECTION WITH COUNTERFEIT
ACCESS DEVICES.
(a) Unlawful Acts.--Section 1029(a) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (10); and
(2) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the following:
``(8) knowingly and with intent to defraud uses, produces,
traffics in, has control or custody of, or possesses a scanning
receiver;
``(9) knowingly uses, produces, traffics in, has control or
custody of, or possesses hardware or software, knowing it has been
configured to insert or modify telecommunication identifying
information associated with or contained in a telecommunications
instrument so that such instrument may be used to obtain
telecommunications service without authorization; or''.
(b) Penalties.--
(1) Generally.--Section 1029(c) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Penalties.--
``(1) Generally.--The punishment for an offense under
subsection (a) of this section is--
``(A) in the case of an offense that does not occur after a
conviction for another offense under this section--
``(i) if the offense is under paragraph (1), (2), (3),
(6), (7), or (10) of subsection (a), a fine under this
title or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both;
and
``(ii) if the offense is under paragraph (4), (5), (8),
or (9), of subsection (a), a fine under this title or
imprisonment for not more than 15 years, or both;
``(B) in the case of an offense that occurs after a
conviction for another offense under this section, a fine under
this title or imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both;
and
``(C) in either case, forfeiture to the United States of
any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the
offense.
``(2) Forfeiture procedure.--The forfeiture of property under
this section, including any seizure and disposition of the property
and any related administrative and judicial proceeding, shall be
governed by section 413 of the Controlled Substances Act, except
for subsection (d) of that section.''.
(2) Attempts.--Section 1029(b)(1) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by striking ``punished as provided in subsection
(c) of this section'' and inserting ``subject to the same penalties
as those prescribed for the offense attempted''.
(c) Definitions.--Section 1029(e)(8) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by inserting before the period ``or to intercept an
electronic serial number, mobile identification number, or other
identifier of any telecommunications service, equipment, or
instrument''.
(d) Applicability of New Section 1029(a)(9).--
(1) In general.--Section 1029 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g)(1) It is not a violation of subsection (a)(9) for an officer,
employee, or agent of, or a person engaged in business with, a
facilities-based carrier, to engage in conduct (other than trafficking)
otherwise prohibited by that subsection for the purpose of protecting
the property or legal rights of that carrier, unless such conduct is
for the purpose of obtaining telecommunications service provided by
another facilities-based carrier without the authorization of such
carrier.
``(2) In a prosecution for a violation of subsection (a)(9), (other
than a violation consisting of producing or trafficking) it is an
affirmative defense (which the defendant must establish by a
preponderance of the evidence) that the conduct charged was engaged in
for research or development in connection with a lawful purpose.''.
(2) Definitions.--Section 1029(e) of title 18, United States
Code, is amended--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (6);
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (7) and
inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (8); and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) the term `telecommunications service' has the meaning
given such term in section 3 of title I of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153);
``(10) the term `facilities-based carrier' means an entity that
owns communications transmission facilities, is responsible for the
operation and maintenance of those facilities, and holds an
operating license issued by the Federal Communications Commission
under the authority of title III of the Communications Act of 1934;
and
``(11) the term `telecommunication identifying information'
means electronic serial number or any other number or signal that
identifies a specific telecommunications instrument or account, or
a specific communication transmitted from a telecommunications
instrument.''.
(e) Amendment of Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Wireless
Telephone Cloning.--
(1) In general.--Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of
title 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing
Commission shall review and amend the Federal sentencing guidelines
and the policy statements of the Commission, if appropriate, to
provide an appropriate penalty for offenses involving the cloning
of wireless telephones (including offenses involving an attempt or
conspiracy to clone a wireless telephone).
(2) Factors for consideration.--In carrying out this
subsection, the Commission shall consider, with respect to the
offenses described in paragraph (1)--
(A) the range of conduct covered by the offenses;
(B) the existing sentences for the offenses;
(C) the extent to which the value of the loss caused by the
offenses (as defined in the Federal sentencing guidelines) is
an adequate measure for establishing penalties under the
Federal sentencing guidelines;
(D) the extent to which sentencing enhancements within the
Federal sentencing guidelines and the court's authority to
sentence above the applicable guideline range are adequate to
ensure punishment at or near the maximum penalty for the most
egregious conduct covered by the offenses;
(E) the extent to which the Federal sentencing guideline
sentences for the offenses have been constrained by statutory
maximum penalties;
(F) the extent to which Federal sentencing guidelines for
the offenses adequately achieve the purposes of sentencing set
forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18, United States Code;
(G) the relationship of Federal sentencing guidelines for
the offenses to the Federal sentencing guidelines for other
offenses of comparable seriousness; and
(H) any other factor that the Commission considers to be
appropriate.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
45
President of the Senate.
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