Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee

Filed: 10/11/2007

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 563

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 563, AS AMENDED, by
3 replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
4 following:
 
5     "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Internet Dating Disclosure and Safety Awareness Act.
 
7     Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
8     "Communicate" or "communicating" means free-form text
9 authored by a member or real-time voice communication through
10 an online dating service provider.
11     "Member" means a person who submits to an online dating
12 service provider the information required by the provider to
13 access the provider's service for the purpose of engaging in
14 dating, participating in compatibility evaluations with other
15 persons, or obtaining matrimonial matching services.
16     "Online dating service provider" or "provider" means a

 

 

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1 person engaged in the business of offering or providing to its
2 members for a fee access to dating, compatibility evaluations
3 between persons, or matrimonial matching services through the
4 Internet.
5     "Sex offender registrant search" means a search for a
6 person's current and historical registration status on each
7 state's available sex offender registry, including the
8 District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, initiated by an online
9 dating service provider conducted through one of the means
10 provided for in Section 10 of this Act.
11     "Sex offense conviction" means a conviction for an offense
12 that would qualify the offender for registration as a sex
13 offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act or under
14 another state's equivalent statute.
 
15     Section 10. Sex offender registrant search. For purposes of
16 this Act, a sex offender registrant search shall be conducted
17 through one of the following means:
18         (1) by searching each available and regularly updated
19     state-wide sex offender registry database in all 50 states
20     plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico; or
21         (2) by searching a database maintained and regularly
22     updated by a private vendor whose database contains
23     state-wide sex offender registrant information for all 50
24     states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico as would be
25     otherwise accessible through searches of all the available

 

 

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1     government databases specified in item (1) of this Section.
 
2     Section 15. Sex offender registrant search; disclosures.
3      (a) An online dating service provider offering services to
4 residents of this State shall disclose clearly and
5 conspicuously, to any member who provides a billing address or
6 a zip code in this State when registering with the provider,
7 that the online dating provider either initiates a sex offender
8 registrant search of sex offender registrations on each member
9 prior to permitting any member to communicate with a member in
10 this State or that the online dating service provider does not
11 initiate such a sex offender registrant search.
12     (b) If the online dating service provider does not initiate
13 sex offender registrant searches, the provider must make a
14 disclosure that shall read:
15          "NO SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY SEARCH IS DONE ON MEMBERS
16     WHO USE THIS SERVICE. PLEASE TAKE APPROPRIATE SAFETY
17     MEASURES TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF POSSIBLE RISKS
18     ASSOCIATED WITH DATING."
19     (c) If the online dating service provider does initiate sex
20 offender registrant searches, the disclosure shall read:
21         "...............(NAME OF PROVIDER)......... INITIATES
22     A SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY SEARCH OF ALL 50 STATES PLUS
23     WASHINGTON, D.C. AND PUERTO RICO BEFORE A MEMBER IS
24     PERMITTED TO COMMUNICATE WITH ANY MEMBER FROM ILLINOIS."
25     (d) The disclosure required by either subsection (b) or

 

 

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1 subsection (c) of this Section shall appear on a web page
2 required to be viewed by a person applying to be a member who
3 has indicated a billing address or zip code in this State in
4 the registration process. The disclosure cannot be more than 3
5 inches from the top of the web page and must be:
6         (1) in bold capital letters;
7         (2) in at least 12 point type; and
8         (3) in a color that contrasts from the background.
9     The provider shall require the applicant in this State to
10 make an electronic acknowledgement that the applicant has been
11 provided the disclosure before the applicant is accepted as a
12 member. The disclosure required by either subsection (b) or
13 subsection (c) of this Section shall additionally appear on any
14 page that appears to a member in this State each time that
15 member initiates or receives a communication with another
16 member through the provider's service.
17     (e) If the online dating service provider conducts sex
18 offender registry searches and the provider has a policy
19 allowing a member who has been identified as being on a sex
20 offender registry to have access to its service to communicate
21 with any member in this State, the provider shall clearly and
22 conspicuously disclose on any communication to a member in this
23 State from the member who has been identified as having been on
24 a sex offender registry, and on any web page that is seen by or
25 transmitted to a member in this State that contains the
26 personal information for the member who has been identified as

 

 

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1 having been on a sex offender registry and that is seen by or
2 communicated to a member in this State, a disclosure that shall
3 read:
4         "THIS PERSON HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A CURRENT OR FORMER
5     SEX OFFENDER REGISTERED ON ONE OR MORE SEX OFFENDER
6     REGISTRIES."
 
7     Section 20. Provider policies; disclosure. An online
8 dating service provider that conducts sex offender registry
9 searches shall establish an automatic electronic link from any
10 web page containing the disclosure required by subsection (c)
11 of Section 15 to a web page that provides a safety awareness
12 notification. The web page containing the safety awareness
13 notification shall be configured such that it shall
14 automatically appear each time a member makes the electronic
15 acknowledgement of the disclosure under subsection (c) of
16 Section 15. The member is required to make an electronic
17 acknowledgement of the safety awareness notification each time
18 it appears and the acknowledgement shall appear at the bottom
19 of the web page containing the notification. At a minimum, the
20 safety awareness notification shall provide the following:
21         (1) A statement that reads:
22             "PERSONAL SAFETY AWARENESS NOTICE CAUTION: Before
23         allowing Illinois members to communicate with other
24         members . . . [Name of provider] . . . initiates a sex
25         offender registry search of all 50 states' plus

 

 

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1         Washington, D.C.'s and Puerto Rico's sex offender
2         registries to determine if a member is a current or
3         former sex offender registrant. The purpose is to
4         provide a preliminary background screening for
5         protection of our members before they are permitted to
6         begin communicating directly with each other.
7             The sex offender registrant searches for sex
8         offenders convictions are not foolproof and are not
9         intended to give members a false sense of security. Sex
10         offender registrant searches are not a perfect safety
11         solution and offenders may circumvent even the most
12         sophisticated search technology or registration
13         requirements.
14             Not all sex offender records are public in all
15         states and not all databases are up-to-date. Only
16         publicly available sex offender registrant data is
17         included in the search.
18             Anyone who is able to commit identity theft can
19         also falsify a dating profile.
20             There is no substitute for using good common sense
21         and acting with caution when communicating with any
22         stranger who wants to meet you."
23         (2) A list and description of safety measures
24     reasonably designed to increase awareness of safer dating
25     practices as determined by the provider.
 

 

 

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1     Section 25. Application. Any online dating service
2 provider that signs up members from Illinois must comply with
3 the provisions of this Act.
 
4     Section 30. Jurisdiction. An online dating service that
5 engages in the act of transmitting files over the Internet
6 addressed to residents of the State, and the act of accepting
7 membership fees from residents of the State, means that the
8 online dating service is operating, conducting, engaging in,
9 and otherwise carrying on a business in the State, subjecting
10 the online dating service providers to regulation by the State
11 and to the jurisdiction of the State's courts.
 
12     Section 35. Unlawful practice. Failure to comply with the
13 disclosure requirements of this Act shall constitute a an
14 unlawful business practice under the Consumer Fraud and
15 Deceptive Business Practices Act. Each failure to provide the
16 required disclosure constitutes a separate violation.
 
17     Section 40. Exemptions.
18     (a) An Internet service provider does not violate this Act
19 solely as a result of serving as an intermediary for the
20 transmission of electronic messages between members of an
21 online dating service provider.
22     (b) An Internet access service or other Internet service
23 provider shall not be considered an online dating service

 

 

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1 provider within the meaning of this Act as to any online dating
2 service website provided by another person or entity.
3     (c) An Internet service provider that has fewer than 1,000
4 members is exempt from the requirements of this Act.
 
5     Section 45. Severability. If any provision of this Act or
6 its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid,
7 the invalidity of that provision or application does not affect
8 other provisions or applications of this Act that can be given
9 effect without the invalid provision or application.
 
10     Section 500. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
11 Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2Z as follows:
 
12     (815 ILCS 505/2Z)  (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 262Z)
13     Sec. 2Z. Violations of other Acts. Any person who knowingly
14 violates the Automotive Repair Act, the Automotive Collision
15 Repair Act, the Home Repair and Remodeling Act, the Dance
16 Studio Act, the Physical Fitness Services Act, the Hearing
17 Instrument Consumer Protection Act, the Illinois Union Label
18 Act, the Job Referral and Job Listing Services Consumer
19 Protection Act, the Travel Promotion Consumer Protection Act,
20 the Credit Services Organizations Act, the Automatic Telephone
21 Dialers Act, the Pay-Per-Call Services Consumer Protection
22 Act, the Telephone Solicitations Act, the Illinois Funeral or
23 Burial Funds Act, the Cemetery Care Act, the Safe and Hygienic

 

 

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1 Bed Act, the Pre-Need Cemetery Sales Act, the High Risk Home
2 Loan Act, the Payday Loan Reform Act, the Mortgage Rescue Fraud
3 Act, subsection (a) or (b) of Section 3-10 of the Cigarette Tax
4 Act, the Payday Loan Reform Act, subsection (a) or (b) of
5 Section 3-10 of the Cigarette Use Tax Act, the Electronic Mail
6 Act, paragraph (6) of subsection (k) of Section 6-305 of the
7 Illinois Vehicle Code, the Internet Dating Disclosure and
8 Safety Awareness Act, Article 3 of the Residential Real
9 Property Disclosure Act, the Automatic Contract Renewal Act, or
10 the Personal Information Protection Act commits an unlawful
11 practice within the meaning of this Act.
12 (Source: P.A. 93-561, eff. 1-1-04; 93-950, eff. 1-1-05; 94-13,
13 eff. 12-6-05; 94-36, eff. 1-1-06; 94-280, eff. 1-1-06; 94-292,
14 eff. 1-1-06; 94-822, eff. 1-1-07.)".