By: Castro, Gallego (Senate Sponsor - Watson) H.B. No. 1666
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2011;
April 28, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; May 12, 2011, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 12, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the offense of online impersonation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 33.07, Penal Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 33.07. ONLINE IMPERSONATION [HARASSMENT].
SECTION 2. Section 33.07(a), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, without
obtaining the other person's consent and with the intent to harm,
defraud, intimidate, or threaten any person, uses the name or
persona of another person to:
(1) create a web page on a commercial social
networking site or other Internet website; or
(2) [to] post or send one or more messages on or
through a commercial social networking site or other Internet
website, other than on or through an electronic mail program or
message board program [:
[(1) without obtaining the other person's consent; and
[(2) with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or
threaten any person].
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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