STATE OF COLORADO
SIXTY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
House Bill 1309
Sent to Governor May 11, 2000;
became law without signature June 3, 2000
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Title 6, Colorado Revised Statutes, is
amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW ARTICLE to read:
ARTICLE 2.5
Colorado Junk Email Law
6-2.5-101. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
"Colorado Junk Email Law".
6-2.5-102. Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Current or prior business relationship" means:
(a) The recipient has indicated a willingness to receive commercial electronic mail
messages from that sender; or
(b) The recipient has purchased or leased real property, goods, or services
from the sender of the unsolicited commercial electronic mail message, the
message from the sender directly concerns the purchase or lease, and the message
is sent within the warranty period or within thirteen months after the date of
purchase or lease, whichever period is a greater length of time; or
(c) The recipient has an ongoing contract with the sender of the unsolicited commercial
electronic mail message, and the message from the sender directly concerns the ongoing
contract.
(2) "Electronic mail" means an electronic message or computer file containing an image of
a message that is transmitted between two or more computers or electronic terminals.
"electronic mail" includes electronic messages that are transmitted within or between
computer networks.
(3) "Electronic mail service provider" means any person that is an
intermediary in sending or receiving electronic mail or provides to end users
of electronic mail services the ability to send or receive electronic mail.
(4) "Person" shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 2-4-401(8), C.R.S.
(5) "Unsolicited commercial electronic mail message" means an electronic mail message
sent without the recipient's expressed permission for the purpose of promoting real
property, goods, or services for sale or lease;
6-2.5-103. Restrictions on certain commercial electronic mail -
violations of article. (1) It shall be a violation of this article
for any person that sends an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message
to fail to disclose the actual point-of-origin electronic mail address
of the unsolicited commercial electronic mail message.
(2) It shall be a violation of this article for any person that sends an unsolicited
commercial electronic mail message to falsify electronic mail transmission information or
other routing information for the unsolicited commercial electronic mail message.
(3) It shall be a violation of this article for any person that sends an unsolicited
commercial electronic mail message to use a third party's internet address or domain name
without the third party's consent for the purposes of transmitting electronic mail.
(4) It shall be a violation of this article for any person that sends an
unsolicited commercial electronic mail message to fail to use the exact
characters "ADV:" (the capital letters "A", "D", and "V", in that order,
followed immediately by a colon) as the first four characters in the
subject line of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message
unless the sender:
(a) Is an organization using electronic mail to communicate exclusively with its
members; or
(b) Is an organization using electronic mail to communicate exclusively with its
employees or contractors, or both; or
(c) Has a current or prior business relationship with the recipient,
as defined in section 6-2.5-102(1).
(5) It shall be a violation of this article for any person that sends
an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message to fail to provide a
mechanism allowing recipients to easily and at no cost remove themselves
from the sender's electronic mail address lists so that they are not
included in future mailings.
It shall also be a violation of this article to send unsolicited commercial electronic
mail messages to any person that has requested under this subsection (5) to be removed
from the sender's electronic mail lists or to provide the electronic mail address of any
such person to any third party, whether or not such third party is part of the sender's
business organization.
However, electronic mail addresses may be provided to any such person or to any third
party for the sole purpose of inclusion in do-not-email lists.
6-2.5-104. Enforcement - civil right of action for damages - civil
penalty. (1) In the case of any violation of this article, the
following entities may each separately file a civil action in a court of
competent jurisdiction and may each, upon proof of such violation,
recover such sums as are allowed under this section:
(a) The person receiving an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message;
(b) Any electronic mail service provider whose network or facilities were used in the
transmission or attempted transmission of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail
message.
(2) (a) In any such action, the prevailing party other than the originator of
the unsolicited commercial electronic mail message shall be entitled to
actual damages. Upon a showing that the sender of an unsolicited commercial
electronic mail message violated any provision of this article, whether or
not the violation resulted in a financial loss or injury, the prevailing party
other than the originator of the unsolicited commercial electronic mail
message may recover attorney fees and costs.
(b) In any such action, the prevailing party other than the originator
of the unsolicited commercial electronic mail message is also entitled to
recover as part of the judgment a civil penalty in the amount of ten dollars
for each unsolicited commercial electronic mail message transmitted in
violation of this article.
(3) The remedies, duties, prohibitions, and penalties of this section are not exclusive and
are in addition to all other causes of action, remedies, and penalties provided by law.
(4) At the request of any party to an action brought pursuant to this
section, the court may, in its discretion, conduct all legal proceedings in
such a way as to protect the secrecy and security of any computer, computer
network, computer data, or computer software involved in order to prevent
possible recurrence of the same or similar conduct by another person and
to protect the trade secrets of any party.
(5) Electronic mail service providers that adopt and implement terms, conditions, or
technical measures with the intent to prevent or prohibit the origination or transmission
of unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages in violation of this article shall be
immune from civil liability for any such actions, and no provision of this article shall be
construed to create any liability for such actions.
(6) No electronic mail service provider shall be liable for the mere transmission of
unsolicited commercial electronic mail messages over the provider's computer network or
facilities.
(7) The provisions of this article shall not be construed to require any electronic mail
service provider to carry or deliver any electronic mail merely because a sender complies
with the provisions of this article.
6-2.5-105. Scope of article. This article shall apply
when an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message is sent to a Colorado
resident via an electronic mail service provider's service or leased or
owned equipment located in this state.
SECTION 2. 13-6-105(1)(f), Colorado Revised Statutes,
is amended to read:
13-6-105. Specific limits on civil jurisdiction.
(1) The county court shall have no civil jurisdiction except that
specifically conferred upon it by law. In particular, it shall have no
jurisdiction over the following matters:
(f) Original proceedings for the issuance of injunctions, except as provided
in section 13-6-104 (5), except as required to enforce restrictive covenants
on residential property and to enforce the provisions of article 2.5 of title
6, C.R.S., and except as otherwise specifically authorized in this article
or, if there is no authorization, by rule of the Colorado supreme court.
SECTION 3. 13-6-403 (2) (h), Colorado Revised Statutes,
is amended to read:
13-6-403. Jurisdiction of small claims court -
limitations.
(2) The small claims court shall have no jurisdiction except that
specifically conferred upon it by law. In particular, it shall have no
jurisdiction over the following matters:
(h) Actions involving injunctive relief, except as required to enforce
restrictive covenants on residential property and to enforce the provisions
of article 2.5 of title 6, C.R.S.;
SECTION 4. Effective date - applicability.
(1) This act shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the
expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general
assembly that is allowed for submitting a referendum petition pursuant to
article V, section 1(3) of the state constitution; except that, if a referendum
petition is filed against this act or an item, section, or part of this
act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part, if approved
by the people, shall take effect on the date of the official declaration
of the vote thereon by proclamation of the governor.
(2) The provisions of this act shall apply to acts occurring on or
after the applicable effective date of this act.
