Bill Text: NY A08041 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Removes the $250 economic harm requirement from the felony commercial bribery statutes; expands the crime of larceny to include theft of personal identifying information, computer data, computer programs, and services, to adapt to modern technological realities; provides state jurisdiction and county venue over cases involving larceny of personal identifying information, computer data, and computer programs, where the victim is located in the state or the county.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to codes [A08041 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A08041-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8041 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY September 13, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the crimes of commercial bribery and larceny; and to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to jurisdiction for personal identifying information theft crimes The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 180.03 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 577 2 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 180.03 Commercial bribing in the first degree. 4 A person is guilty of commercial bribing in the first degree when he 5 or she confers, or offers or agrees to confer, any benefit upon any 6 employee, agent or fiduciary without the consent of the latter's employ- 7 er or principal, with intent to influence his or her conduct in relation 8 to his or her employer's or principal's affairs, and when the value of 9 the benefit conferred or offered or agreed to be conferred exceeds one 10 thousand dollars [and causes economic harm to the employer or principal11in an amount exceeding two hundred fifty dollars]. 12 Commercial bribing in the first degree is a class E felony. 13 § 2. Section 180.08 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 577 of the 14 laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: 15 § 180.08 Commercial bribe receiving in the first degree. 16 An employee, agent or fiduciary is guilty of commercial bribe receiv- 17 ing in the first degree when, without the consent of his or her employer 18 or principal, he or she solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any bene- 19 fit from another person upon an agreement or understanding that such 20 benefit will influence his or her conduct in relation to his or her 21 employer's or principal's affairs, and when the value of the benefit 22 solicited, accepted or agreed to be accepted exceeds one thousand EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03644-01-3A. 8041 2 1 dollars [and causes economic harm to the employer or principal in an2amount exceeding two hundred fifty dollars]. 3 Commercial bribe receiving in the first degree is a class E felony. 4 § 3. Section 155.00 of the penal law, subdivisions 1 and 8 as amended 5 by chapter 514 of the laws of 1986, subdivision 6 as added by chapter 6 791 of the laws of 1967, subdivision 7 as added by chapter 115 of the 7 laws of 1969, subdivision 7-a as added by chapter 556 of the laws of 8 1987, subdivision 7-b as added by chapter 81 of the laws of 1995, subdi- 9 vision 7-c as amended by chapter 171 of the laws of 1993, and subdivi- 10 sion 9 as added by chapter 530 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read 11 as follows: 12 § 155.00 Larceny; definitions of terms. 13 The following definitions are applicable to this title: 14 1. "Property" means any money, personal property, real property, 15 computer data, computer program, personal identifying information, thing 16 in action, evidence of debt or contract, or any article, substance or 17 thing of value, including any gas, steam, water or electricity, which is 18 provided for a charge or compensation. 19 2. "Obtain" includes, but is not limited to, the bringing about of a 20 transfer or purported transfer of property or of a legal interest there- 21 in, whether to the obtainer or another. With regard to personal identi- 22 fying information, computer data or a computer program, obtain includes 23 duplicating, recording, copying, downloading, uploading or printing out 24 the information, data, or program, or obtaining a physical object 25 containing such information. With regard to service, obtain includes, 26 but is not limited to, using or accessing a service. 27 3. "Deprive." To "deprive" another of property means (a) to withhold 28 it or cause it to be withheld from him or her permanently or for so 29 extended a period or under such circumstances that the major portion of 30 its economic value or benefit is lost to him or her, or (b) to dispose 31 of the property in such manner or under such circumstances as to render 32 it unlikely that an owner will recover such property. When the property 33 is personal identifying information, computer data or a computer 34 program, to deprive another of it means to obtain it or cause a third 35 person to obtain it under such circumstances that a substantial portion 36 of the economic benefit or value of having control over it or authority 37 over its use is lost to an owner. To deprive another of service is to 38 use or access a service or cause a third person to use or access a 39 service under such circumstances that some of the economic benefit or 40 value of having control or authority over providing the service is lost 41 to an owner. 42 4. "Appropriate." To "appropriate" property of another to oneself or a 43 third person means (a) to exercise control over it, or to aid a third 44 person to exercise control over it, permanently or for so extended a 45 period or under such circumstances as to acquire the major portion of 46 its economic value or benefit, or (b) to dispose of the property for the 47 benefit of oneself or a third person. When the property is personal 48 identifying information, computer data or a computer program of another, 49 to appropriate it to oneself or a third person means to obtain it under 50 such circumstances as to acquire the ability to use it or dispose of it 51 to the economic benefit of oneself or a third person or to the economic 52 detriment or damage of an owner. To appropriate a service provided by 53 another to oneself or a third person means to use or access the service 54 under such circumstances as to acquire the ability to use it to the 55 economic benefit of oneself or a third person or to the economic detri- 56 ment or damage of an owner.A. 8041 3 1 5. "Owner." When property or service is taken, obtained or withheld by 2 one person from another person, an "owner" thereof means any person who 3 has a right to possession [thereof] of the property or a right to 4 provide the service superior to that of the taker, obtainer or withhold- 5 er. 6 A person who has obtained possession of property or service by theft 7 or other illegal means shall be deemed to have a right of possession of 8 the property or a right to provide the service superior to that of a 9 person who takes, obtains or withholds it from him or her by larcenous 10 means. 11 A joint or common owner of property shall not be deemed to have a 12 right of possession thereto superior to that of any other joint or 13 common owner thereof. 14 In the absence of a specific agreement to the contrary, a person in 15 lawful possession of property shall be deemed to have a right of 16 possession superior to that of a person having only a security interest 17 therein, even if legal title lies with the holder of the security inter- 18 est pursuant to a conditional sale contract or other security agreement. 19 6. "Secret scientific material" means a sample, culture, micro-organ- 20 ism, specimen, record, recording, document, drawing or any other arti- 21 cle, material, device or substance which constitutes, represents, 22 evidences, reflects, or records a scientific or technical process, 23 invention or formula or any part or phase thereof, and which is not, and 24 is not intended to be, available to anyone other than the person or 25 persons rightfully in possession thereof or selected persons having 26 access thereto with his, her or their consent, and when it accords or 27 may accord such rightful possessors an advantage over competitors or 28 other persons who do not have knowledge or the benefit thereof. 29 7. ["Credit card" means any instrument or article defined as a credit30card in section five hundred eleven of the general business law.317-a. "Debit card" means any instrument or article defined as a debit32card in section five hundred eleven of the general business law.337-b. "Public benefit card" means any medical assistance card, food34stamp assistance card, public assistance card, or any other identifica-35tion, authorization card or electronic access device issued by the state36or a social services district as defined in subdivision seven of section37two of the social services law, which entitles a person to obtain public38assistance benefits under a local, state or federal program administered39by the state, its political subdivisions or social services districts.407-c. "Access device" means any telephone calling card number, credit41card number, account number, mobile identification number, electronic42serial number or personal identification number that can be used to43obtain telephone service.] "Personal identifying information" means a 44 person's date of birth, driver's license number, social security number, 45 personal identification number, financial services account number or 46 code, savings account number or code, checking account number or code, 47 brokerage account number or code, credit card account number or code, 48 debit card number or code, automated teller machine number or code, 49 taxpayer identification number, computer system password, signature or 50 copy of a signature, electronic signature, unique biometric data that is 51 a fingerprint, voice print, retinal image or iris image, telephone call- 52 ing card number, mobile identification number or code, electronic serial 53 number or personal identification number, or any other name, number, 54 code or information that may be used alone or in conjunction with other 55 such information to assume the identity of another person or access 56 financial resources or credit of another person, or any physical objectA. 8041 4 1 containing such information, such as a printout or other written materi- 2 al, driver's license or other identity card, credit card, debit card, 3 public benefit card, automated teller or other transactional card, or 4 computer, hard drive, or other data storage device. In this subdivision, 5 "person" has all the meanings set forth in subdivision seven of section 6 10.00 of this chapter; "electronic signature" has the meaning provided 7 in subdivision three of section three hundred two of the state technolo- 8 gy law; "credit card" and "debit card" have the meanings provided in 9 section five hundred eleven of the general business law; "public benefit 10 card" means any medical assistance card, food stamp assistance card, 11 public assistance card, or any other identification, authorization card 12 or electronic access device issued by the state or a social services 13 district as defined in subdivision seven of section two of the social 14 services law which entitles a person to obtain public assistance bene- 15 fits under a local, state or federal program administered by the state, 16 its political subdivisions or social services districts. 17 8. "Service" includes, but is not limited to, [labor, professional18service,] a computer service, transportation service, telecommunications 19 service, cable or satellite television service, microwave transmission 20 service, the supplying of service pursuant to a public or governmental 21 benefit program, including housing and medical care, the supplying of 22 service pursuant to an insurance policy or program, the supplying of 23 hotel accommodations, restaurant services, entertainment, the supplying 24 of equipment for use, and the supplying of commodities of a public util- 25 ity nature such as gas, electricity, steam and water. A ticket or equiv- 26 alent instrument which evidences a right to receive a service is not in 27 itself service but constitutes property within the meaning of subdivi- 28 sion one. 29 9. ["Cable television service" means any and all services provided by30or through the facilities of any cable television system or closed31circuit coaxial cable communications system, or any microwave or similar32transmission service used in connection with any cable television system33or other similar closed circuit coaxial cable communications system.] 34 "Computer program" means an ordered set of data representing coded 35 instructions or statements that, when executed by computer, cause the 36 computer to process data or direct the computer to perform one or more 37 computer operations or both and may be in any form, including magnetic 38 storage media, punched cards, or stored internally in the memory of the 39 computer. 40 10. "Computer data" means a representation of information, knowledge, 41 facts, concepts or instructions which are being processed, or have been 42 processed in a computer and may be in any form, including magnetic stor- 43 age media, punched cards, or stored internally in the memory of the 44 computer. 45 § 4. Paragraph (l) of subdivision 4 of section 20.40 of the criminal 46 procedure law, as amended by section 3 of subpart C of part C of chapter 47 97 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows: 48 (l) An offense of identity theft or unlawful possession of personal 49 identifying information, and any other offense based on the allegations 50 underlying either of those offenses, and all criminal acts committed as 51 part of the same criminal transaction as defined in subdivision two of 52 section 40.10 of this chapter may be prosecuted (i) in any county in 53 which part of the offense took place regardless of whether the defendant 54 was actually present in such county, or (ii) in the county in which the 55 person who suffers financial loss resided at the time of the commission 56 of the offense, or (iii) in the county where the person whose personalA. 8041 5 1 identifying information was used in the commission of the offense 2 resided at the time of the commission of the offense. The law enforce- 3 ment agency of any such county shall take a police report of the matter 4 and provide the complainant with a copy of such report at no charge. 5 § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed- 6 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.