With rapid technological growth, cybercrime is becoming an area of interest among prosecutors and judges. Therefore, California has enacted several laws regulating and offering criminal consequences and penalties, irrespective of whether you commented on your loved one’s post and deleted the potentially incriminating content or were falsely accused based on another person’s online activities. Internet crimes carry severe penalties and, in the worst-case scenarios, can be prosecuted in both federal and state courts. This article discusses some of these laws in detail.

Stalking is Illegal in California

In 1998, the California legislature amended PC 646.9, prohibiting cyberstalking. The amendment changed the definition of credible threats (a fact of the crime of stalking) to include electronically communicated threats.

Before your conviction of cyberstalking, the prosecution team must demonstrate the following:

  • You intentionally or maliciously harassed another individual.
  • You made credible threats against the person.
  • Your threats placed the person in reasonable fear for their safety or that of their relatives.
  • You communicated the threats using the internet or another electronic communication device.

Cyberstalking is a wobbler. A wobbler is a crime that the prosecution charges as a felony or misdemeanor based on your criminal record and the circumstances surrounding your case.

A misdemeanor is punishable by $1,000 in fines and a year in jail. On the other hand, a felony attracts the following potential penalties:

  • Five years in state prison
  • A $1,000 fine
  • Sex offender registration requirement for life

Both felony and misdemeanor convictions can subject the defendant to:

  • A restraining order banning contact with the victim
  • Counseling or confinement in a healthcare facility that treats mental health conditions

If the victim is your fiance(e), spouse, a person with whom you live with, your child’s parent, or a person you are or were dating, the prosecution could file the cyberstalking charges per domestic violence laws, resulting in additional criminal penalties. 

Cyberstalking makes it challenging to litigate in court. Your defense lawyer should analyze your case details to develop legal strategies for the most favorable case results.

Viable legal defenses can include the following:

  • You are a victim of mistaken identity.
  • False accusations

Everything You Need to Know about Hacking Law

Hacking is identical to breaking and entering another person’s asset, and like burglary, California law prohibits entering another person’s computer without their consent.

Before your conviction, the prosecutor must establish that you knowingly accessed a system, network, or computer without consent.

If nobody sustains injuries and it was your first-time crime, the conduct becomes an infraction punishable by a $1,000 fine. A subsequent crime attracts the following penalties:

  • A year in jail
  • A fine that does not exceed $5,000
  • Misdemeanor probation

Nevertheless, if your behavior causes damages, then your penalties become severe. Here are some specific examples:

Emplacing Malware

It is a crime to introduce worms, scripts, viruses, or software without consent onto another person’s computer device, leading to damaging records, transmitting, or modifying information on the computer without the owner’s permission. It also applies to self-replicating malware that can spread from one user to another.

If your conduct does not cause injuries to anyone and is your first crime, the prosecution will file an infraction that can subject you to a $1,000 fine. A subsequent crime is a wobbler punishable by the following maximum criminal penalties:

  • Three (3) years in jail
  • Fines of $10,000

Using an Internet Service or Computer Without Consent

The offense involves hacking to obtain unpaid access to services like entertainment, the internet, video conferencing, or sports shows. Ideally, it entails seeking to use a service another person paid for free. It is unlawful to knowingly and without permission to use another person’s computer time, data processing, email, internet services, or storage.

The crime is a misdemeanor. However, it can be a wobbler if:

  • It is a subsequent crime.
  • The worth of the service used exceeds $950.
  • Your conduct led to injuries or an expenditure by the victim of more than $5,000.

You will face the same penalties for malware if convicted of a wobbler.

Denial of Service Attack

Suppose you are not a fan of a specific web service or website. In that case, if you use a distrusted denial of service attack to overload the website’s hosting, you can be charged with hacking if you make the website offline and cause it a loss in ad and sales revenue.

Since this illegal conduct almost always causes injury, it is a wobbler. A misdemeanor attracts a one-year jail sentence, while a felony is punishable by a three-year county jail sentence.

Deep Web (Child Porn)

PC 311 makes it illegal to advertise, possess, print, transport, send, or duplicate child pornography. It is also illegal to persuade, coerce, use, or hire a minor to engage in making a pornographic image.

Subsections within PC 311 handling specific child pornography violations include the following:

  • Under PC 311.1 and PC 311.2, it is unlawful to engage in child pornography distribution activities like transporting, sending, possessing, producing, or duplicating with the intent to distribute.
  • PC 311.3 bans sharing child porn activities like exchanging, duplicating, or printing.
  • According to PC 311.4, it is illegal to knowingly employ, use, coerce, hire, or use a child in child pornography production.
  • PC 311.10 bans distributing, selling, or advertising child porn.
  • PC 311.11 makes it an offense to control or possess child pornography produced by a juvenile knowingly.

In this context, child pornography is:

  • Any material or matter (films, videotapes, slides, negatives, slides, or photos)
  • Depicting sexual activity or sexual conduct (anal intercourse, masturbation, oral copulation, or sexual intercourse)

Child pornography is a wobbler. A misdemeanor is punishable by a year in jail and a fine between $1,000 and $2,500. Conservely, a felony attracts three years in state prison.

A PC 311 conviction can also lead to a sex offender registration obligation.

Depending on your case facts, your defense attorney can use any of the legal defenses to beat your charges:              

  • There is no actual child porn, as defined by law.
  • You did not knowingly commit the alleged conduct.
  • Police engaged in an illegal search and seizure
  • Illegal police entrapment

Federal Child Pornography Law

18 U.S.C. 2252 makes it an offense to create, distribute, transport, and possess child porn material.

The law defines child pornography as a visual depiction of a child engaging in sexually explicit behavior, whether it is produced or made using means like mechanical or electronic.

The federal law bans receiving, distributing, or possessing the sexual images of juveniles below 18.

In layman’s language, you violate this federal law by willfully distributing, accessing, or possessing child pornography to view it. A conviction is punished by fifteen years in federal prison for every crime and being placed on relevant sex offender registries.

Internet Fraud

Internet fraud is a growing issue in California. It involves deceiving an individual into giving up something valuable (usually money).

It is a broad array of crimes from:

  • Fraudulent schemes executed through the internet
  • Phishing
  • Unauthorized computer access or use

Fraudulent Schemes Executed through the Internet

A defendant could commit this offense via mail, telephone, or in person. They can also violate the law over the Internet.

These internet schemes can be punished and prosecuted per federal criminal regulations. To be sentenced for internet scams per federal law, the prosecution should verify the circumstances of the offense below:

  • You had the intent to engage in Internet fraud.
  • You had plans to defraud someone.
  • You utilized electronic communication channels to implement the scheme.

The prosecution is not under obligation to demonstrate that your intention to defraud was successful. You could be sentenced even if your victim lost no money.

If sentenced for internet scamming under federal law, you will pay fines and serve a maximum of twenty years in federal prison.

Defamation Laws

Defamation involves making a false statement that causes damage to another person’s reputation.

According to California Civil Code 44, slander or libel affects defamation. Slander is a verbal statement, while libel is a written statement. Unlike libel, regulations for slander create specific forms of oral comments that are considered detrimental.

In other states, libel is punishable by imprisonment and hefty fines. Nevertheless, in California, victims of defamation are limited in their ability to receive damages in civil lawsuits.

According to California Civil Code 46, slander is a false and unprivileged publication, verbally spoken, that does any of the following:

  • Results in an offense
  • Imputes in you the presence of a contagious, loathsome, or infectious ailment
  • Which, by natural consequence, causes damage
  • Imputes to you a desire of chastity or impotence
  • Tends to injure you for your business, trade, profession, or office

To prove your defamation claim, you should demonstrate the following five elements:

  • An intentional publication of a statement of fact
  • That is false
  • That is unprivileged
  • That has a natural tendency to injure or cause special damage
  • The accused’s responsibility in publishing the statement amounted to at least negligence.

In a successful defamation case, the victim can recover any of the following damages:

  • General damages — Damages for loss of reputation, hurt feelings, mortification, and shame.
  • Special damages — Damages for your profession, occupation, trade, and property
  • Punitive damages — The jury or superior court can award punitive damages alongside special and general damages. The jury awards these damages to punish the defendant and act as a deterrent to prevent future misconduct.

Phishing Law

California phishing laws can be classified into credit card fraud and identity theft.

Identity Theft

PC 530.5 defines identity theft as using somebody’s personal identifying information for illegal purposes, such as attempting to obtain real property, medical details, goods, credit, and services without that individual’s consent.

Penal Code Section 530.5 PC makes identity theft an offense in four (4) situations, including the following:

  • PC 530.5(a) makes willfully acquiring another individual’s personal identifying information and using these details without their consent illegal.
  • PC 530.5(c) makes using somebody’s individual’s personal identifying information without that person’s permission to commit fraud illegal.
  • Under PC 530.5(d)(1), selling, transferring, or providing another individual’s personal identifying information without their permission intending to commit fraud is illegal.
  • PC 530.5(d)(2) bans transferring, offering, or selling somebody else’s personal identifying information while knowing that a person will use these details to defraud.

In this context, personal identifying information includes information like:

  • An individual’s name, birthday, telephone number, or address
  • Employee identification number
  • Bank account information
  • Details contained in death and birth certificates
  • Driver’s license number with the California Department of Motor Vehicles

Identity theft is a California wobbler. A misdemeanor attracts summary probation, fines of $1,000, and a year in jail. A felony carries the following penalties:

  • Felony probation
  • Three years in state prison
  • A $10,000 fine

A conviction can also result in the loss of gun rights and negative immigration consequences.

Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraud makes it illegal to access or use a credit card to acquire services, goods, or money to which you are not entitled. Its subsections include the following:

  • PC 484e bans possessing or selling somebody else’s credit card details or credit card without their permission. It is a grand theft, which is a California wobbler. The maximum penalty is spending three years in jail.
  • PC 484f is the statute that makes it illegal to change an existing credit card or sign somebody else’s name in a credit card transaction without their consent. Violating this statute is a forgery, which is a wobbler. A misdemeanor conviction attracts a year in jail, while a felony carries three years of incarceration.
  • According to PC 484g, you cannot use an expired, counterfeit, or stolen card to buy goods or services while knowing it is invalid. The crime is either petty theft or grand theft. Grand theft is a felony carrying a three-year jail sentence, while petty theft is a misdemeanor that attracts a year in jail.
  • PC 484h makes it illegal for a retailer to accept payment through stolen, counterfeit, or revoked credit cards while they know they are invalid. It is also a crime for a retailer to present false transaction evidence to receive payment when no transaction happened. A PC 484h violation is either petty theft or grand theft and carries the same penalties as PC 484g.
  • PC 484i is the law that bans possessing or manufacturing a fake credit card. You can also be charged with this statute if you have equipment to traffic or make fake credit cards. A violation is a wobbler. The maximum penalty for a California felony is three years in jail.
  • PC 484j bans intentionally communicating credit card details with the intent of defrauding a business or person. These credit card details include passwords and PINs. It is a misdemeanor carrying a six-month county jail sentence.

A credit card fraud conviction can also have adverse immigration penalties. That means you could be marked as inadmissible or deported as an immigrant.

Bullying (California Penal Code 653.2 PC)

PC 653.2 makes it illegal to send electronic communications like emails or texts to place your recipient in reasonable fear for their safety or that of their family.

According to this law, posting specific types of harmful information about somebody else on the internet is illegal. Electronic harassment differs from cyberstalking (Penal Code Section 646.9 PC). To be prosecuted for Penal Code Section 653.2 PC, you, the accused, only need to post details online that would encourage people to stalk or harass the alleged victim.

Electronic communication devices include cell phones, hybrid cellular devices, pagers, fax machines, video recorders, and video recorders.

Before a PC 653.2 conviction, the prosecution team must establish the following elements of the crime:

  • The defendant used an electronic communication device to distribute electronically, publish, make available for downloading, hyperlink, or email personal identifying information or electronic messages that harassed another person.
  • The accused behaved without the alleged victim’s consent.
  • The defendant did so intending to put the victim in reasonable fear for their safety. The accused did so to imminently cause other individuals harassment, unwanted physical contact, or injuries.
  • The messages or personal identifying information you shared might incite or produce unwanted physical contact, harassment, or injury.

Prosecutors file cyberbullying as a misdemeanor punishable by fines of $1,000, a year in jail, and summary probation.

Find a Cyber Crime Defense Attorney Near Me

The Internet has brought forth various laws. These laws are constantly being passed and amended, leaving many people unaware of them or whether they are breaking them. Internet crimes carry severe penalties that can include fines and serving time. If you have been charged with or under investigation for a cybercrime, do not wait to hire the professional assistance you require; the earlier you seek legal representation, the greater your chances of obtaining the most favorable case outcome.

The California Criminal Lawyer Group understands that even good people make mistakes, so we are here to help you know your constitutional rights and how to defend yourself. We can listen to you to collect and analyze evidence and develop the most compelling case defense. Please call us at 408-622-0204 to book your initial consultation at our San Jose office.