I know Georgia is slow but I would have thought we would have already covered this.
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Senate bill would outlaw 'phishing'
By
SONJI JACOBS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/26/07 If you use the Internet and have an e-mail account, you probably have received a message from the wealthy Nigerian who needs help moving millions out of his country or from mysterious folks who want to "update" your personal eBay, Amazon or PayPal accounts.
Those e-mails typically are Internet "phishing" scams designed to get personal information and money from unwary consumers. Now, some Georgia lawmakers want to get tough on e-mail con artists by making it unlawful to engage in such schemes and enacting stiff penalties against folks who get caught.
The Georgia Senate today will consider a bill that would prohibit people from using the Internet to steal personal information by falsely representing themselves as employees of a legitimate business. A similar measure passed the Senate last year, but did not make it through the House before the end of the 2006 session.
"I think it's very important that we keep our laws up to date when it comes to the criminal use of technology," said Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon), the proposal's sponsor.
Under Senate Bill 24, any person in Georgia who intentionally violates the law would be guilty of a felony and could serve between one and 20 years in prison and pay a fine between $1,000 and $500,000. The bill's penalties only would apply to people who are in Georgia when they commit Internet scams; it would not affect, for example, a con artist in California who fraudulently obtained personal information from an Atlanta resident.
The proposed law would allow either the state attorney general or an individual or company that has been scammed to bring a lawsuit against someone who violates the statute. The bill also addresses some concerns raised by businesses and telecommunications companies last year.
The penalties in the bill would not apply to employers who have workers that violate the provisions set out in the measure. Individuals who have computer equipment that is used for Internet phishing without their knowledge are also exempt from the bill's penalties. Finally, the bill also protects Internet service providers whose products may be used to route or transmit stolen personal information.
Georgia lawmakers say they hope the bill will shed light on Internet scams and alert consumers to be more aware of fraudulent requests for their personal information or money.
