BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1411
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 4, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   SB 1411 (Simitian) - As Amended:  May 11, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                             JudiciaryVote:10-0
                       Public Safety                            6-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No           

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county  
            jail, and/or a fine of up to $1,000, to knowingly, without  
            consent, credibly impersonate another person via a website,  
            including by establishing an e-mail or social networking site,  
            or via other electronic means for purposes of harming,  
            threatening or defrauding another person. 

          2)Provides that in addition to any other civil remedy available,  
            a person who suffers damage or loss by reason of  
            impersonation, as specified, may bring a civil action against  
            the violator for compensatory damages and injunctive relief. 
           
           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Unknown, likely minor nonreimbursable local law enforcement  
            and incarceration costs, offset to a degree by increased fine  
            revenue.

          2)Unknown, likely minor state trial court costs to the extent  
            the new cause of action proposed by this bill results in  
            additional civil cases. 

           COMMENTS  

           Rationale  . The author's intent is to update impersonation  
          statutes to explicitly cover situations in which antagonists  
          maliciously use the Internet to harm another person by way of  
          impersonation. 








                                                                  SB 1411
                                                                  Page  2


          As noted by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, "Existing law  
          addressing false impersonation was written years ago without the  
          modern technologies of today in mind. SB 1411 would expand upon  
          existing statute by making it a crime to falsely impersonate  
          another actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by  
          other electronic means. Current technology provides many  
          opportunities for abuse through false impersonation. Victims of  
          Internet impersonation are typically left without adequate legal  
          protection to stop this abuse. SB 1411 will address this problem  
          by expanding the current false impersonation statute to include  
          impersonation done on an Internet website or through other  
          electronic means, including email, Facebook, Twitter, and other  
          social media websites."  
           
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081