1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; establishing the Minnesota Child, Family, and School 
1.3 	Communications Protection Act; providing for rulemaking; establishing a fee; 
1.4 	imposing penalties;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.5 	125B.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [125B.19] MINNESOTA CHILD, FAMILY, AND SCHOOL 
1.8 	COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION ACT.
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Citation. This section may be cited as the "Minnesota Child, Family, 
1.10 	and School Communications Protection Act."
1.11 		Subd. 2.Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms defined in 
1.12 	this section have the meanings given them.
1.13 	(b) "Contact point" means any electronic identification to which messages can be 
1.14 	sent, including any of the following:
1.15 	(1) an instant message identity;
1.16 	(2) a wireless telephone number, personal digital assistant, pager number, or other 
1.17 	similar wireless communication device identifier;
1.18 	(3) a facsimile number;
1.19 	(4) an electronic mail address; or
1.20 	(5) other electronic addresses identified by the Department of Education.
1.21 	(c) "Internet domain name" means a globally unique, hierarchical reference to an 
1.22 	Internet host or service, assigned through centralized Internet authorities, comprising a 
1.23 	series of character strings separated by periods, with the right-most string specifying 
1.24 	the top of the hierarchy.
1.25 	(d) "Minor" means an individual under the age of 18 years.
2.1 	(e) "Person" means an individual, corporation, association, partnership, or other 
2.2 	legal entity.
2.3 	(f) "Service" means the Minnesota child, family, and school communications 
2.4 	protection service established under subdivision 3.
2.5 		Subd. 3.Child, family, and school communications protection service. (a) The 
2.6 	department shall establish and operate, or contract with a qualified provider to establish 
2.7 	and operate, the Minnesota child, family, and school communications protection service. 
2.8 	(b) A Minnesota resident or entity under paragraph (d) responsible for a contact 
2.9 	point may register that contact point with the department. 
2.10 	(c) A registration under this section shall be for no more than three years. A 
2.11 	registration can be revoked or renewed by the registrant upon notification to the 
2.12 	department.
2.13 	(d) Schools and other institutions or entities primarily serving minor children may 
2.14 	register one or more contact points with the department. An entity under this paragraph 
2.15 	may make one registration for all contact points of the entity, and the registration may 
2.16 	include the entity's Internet domain name.
2.17 	(e) No fee or charge shall be assessed or incurred by a person registering a contact 
2.18 	point.
2.19 	(f) A person sending a message under subdivision 4 shall pay the department a fee 
2.20 	of $.001 for each contact point checked through the mechanism for senders to verify 
2.21 	compliance with the service.
2.22 	(g) The service shall be fully operational no later than July 1, 2007.
2.23 		Subd. 4.Messages to contact points. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this 
2.24 	section, a person shall not send, cause to be sent, or conspire with a third party to send 
2.25 	a message to a contact point that has been registered with the service for at least 30 
2.26 	calendar days if the primary purpose of the message is to advertise or induce the sale of a 
2.27 	product or service that a minor is prohibited by law from purchasing, viewing, possessing, 
2.28 	participating in, or otherwise receiving.
2.29 	(b) A person sending a message described in paragraph (a) shall use the mechanism 
2.30 	under subdivision 3, paragraph (f).
2.31 	(c) Senders that, in good faith, use the mechanism under subdivision 3, paragraph 
2.32 	(f), to remove all registered contact points at least every 30 days from their sending lists 
2.33 	shall have immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, for inadvertent violations of this 
2.34 	section during the period in which the mechanism was used.
2.35 	(d) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (h) and subdivision 7, paragraph (c), 
2.36 	the consent to receive the message is not a defense to a violation of this section.
3.1 	(e) A person does not violate this section if the person is an intermediary between 
3.2 	the sender and recipient in the transmission of an electronic message or unknowingly 
3.3 	provides transmission of electronic messages over the person's computer network or 
3.4 	facilities that violate this section.
3.5 	(f) The sending of a message described in paragraph (a) is prohibited only if it is 
3.6 	otherwise a crime for the minor to purchase, view, possess, participate in, or otherwise 
3.7 	receive the product or service.
3.8 	(g) Senders shall be considered on notice of jurisdiction over contact points that 
3.9 	have been registered for at least 30 days with the service. Sending a message to an address 
3.10 	registered for at least 30 calendar days with the child, family, and school communication 
3.11 	protection service shall subject the sender to the state's long-arm jurisdiction.
3.12 	(h) The sending of a message described in paragraph (a) shall not be prohibited if, 
3.13 	prior to sending the message, the sender has obtained, from an adult whose age the sender 
3.14 	has verified, a statement consenting to receive the message at a contact point which the 
3.15 	adult has verified as being the adult's contact point. To comply with this paragraph, the 
3.16 	sender shall:
3.17 	(1) verify that the person making the affirmative statement is of legal age by 
3.18 	inspecting in a face-to-face meeting a valid photo identification issued by a governmental 
3.19 	agency;
3.20 	(2) obtain a written consent form signed by the recipient stating that the recipient has 
3.21 	consented to receive the type of message described in paragraph (a), and retain the consent 
3.22 	form on record and make it available to the department;
3.23 	(3) include in all messages sent under this section a statement that the recipient may 
3.24 	rescind consent and provide an opportunity for the recipient to opt not to receive future 
3.25 	messages; and
3.26 	(4) notify the department that the sender intends to send messages as provided 
3.27 	in this section.
3.28 	The department may implement procedures to audit the sender's records to verify 
3.29 	that the sender is in compliance with this section.
3.30 		Subd. 5.Prohibition. (a) Except as provided under this section, a person shall not:
3.31 	(1) release to another person information concerning persons or provide access 
3.32 	to contact points or other information contained on the service and obtained through 
3.33 	use of the service;
3.34 	(2) sell or use the contents of the service for any reason; and
3.35 	(3) access or attempt to access the service.
4.1 	(b) Records and documents of the service are private data on individuals under 
4.2 	chapter 13.
4.3 		Subd. 6.Violation; penalty. A violation of this section is a computer crime and 
4.4 	felony punishable by imprisonment for five years or less, a fine not to exceed $100,000, 
4.5 	or both. The fine may be trebled if the message is viewed by a minor. Each violation of 
4.6 	this section is a separate offense.
4.7 		Subd. 7.Civil action. (a) A civil action may be brought by:
4.8 	(1) an authorized individual or the registrant of a contact point who has received a 
4.9 	message in violation of this section;
4.10 	(2) a person through whose facilities the message was transmitted in violation of 
4.11 	this section; or
4.12 	(3) the attorney general against a person who has violated this section.
4.13 	(b) In an action brought under this section, the prevailing party may be awarded 
4.14 	reasonable attorney fees. A person bringing an action may recover:
4.15 	(1) actual damages, including reasonable attorney fees; 
4.16 	(2) the lesser of $1,000 per each message transmitted or received by a recipient or 
4.17 	$100,000 for each day that the violation occurs; or
4.18 	(3) for a recipient who is a minor, the lesser of $3,000 per message transmitted or 
4.19 	$300,000 for each day that the violation occurs.
4.20 	(c) It is an affirmative defense to a civil action brought by an individual who 
4.21 	registered a contact point if the sender proves that the individual affirmatively, expressly, 
4.22 	and directly consented, and did not subsequently revoke the consent, to receive messages 
4.23 	from the particular sender to the registered contact point. This consent shall not be a 
4.24 	defense to a criminal or civil action brought by the attorney general or by a person through 
4.25 	whose facilities the message was transmitted.
4.26 	(d) If the attorney general has reason to believe that a person has violated this 
4.27 	section, the attorney general may investigate the business transactions of that person. The 
4.28 	attorney general may require that person to appear, at a reasonable time and place, to give 
4.29 	information under oath and to produce the documents and evidence necessary to determine 
4.30 	if the person is in compliance with the requirements of this section.
4.31 		Subd. 8.Rules. The commissioner must adopt rules to implement this section, 
4.32 	including:
4.33 	(1) procedures to prevent the use or disclosure of protected contact points;
4.34 	(2) procedures to ensure that a registrant meets the requirements of the service;
4.35 	(3) a mechanism for senders to verify compliance with the service; and
4.36 	(4) other necessary procedures or mechanisms.