                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CIVIL RELIEF; DAMAGES (§ 18.2-152.12)

A. Any person whose property or person is injured by reason of a violation of
any provision of this article or by any act of computer trespass set forth in
subdivisions A 1 through A 8 of &#xA7; 18.2-152.4 regardless of whether such act
is committed with malicious intent may sue therefor and recover for any damages
sustained and the costs of suit. Without limiting the generality of the term,
&#8220;damages&#8221; shall include loss of profits.

B. If the injury under this article arises from the transmission of spam in
contravention of the authority granted by or in violation of the policies set by
the electronic mail service provider where the defendant has knowledge of the
authority or policies of the EMSP or where the authority or policies of the EMSP
are available on the electronic mail service provider&#8217;s website, the
injured person, other than an electronic mail service provider, may also recover
attorneys&#8217; fees and costs, and may elect, in lieu of actual damages, to
recover the lesser of $10 for each and every spam message transmitted in
violation of this article, or $25,000 per day. The injured person shall not have
a cause of action against the electronic mail service provider that merely
transmits the spam over its computer network. Transmission of electronic mail
from an organization to its members shall not be deemed to be spam.

C. If the injury under this article arises from the transmission of spam in
contravention of the authority granted by or in violation of the policies set by
the electronic mail service provider where the defendant has knowledge of the
authority or policies of the EMSP or where the authority or policies of the EMSP
are available on the electronic mail service provider&#8217;s website, an
injured electronic mail service provider may also recover attorneys&#8217; fees
and costs, and may elect, in lieu of actual damages, to recover $1 for each and
every intended recipient of a spam message where the intended recipient is an
end user of the EMSP or $25,000 for each day an attempt is made to transmit a
spam message to an end user of the EMSP. In calculating the statutory damages
under this provision, the court may adjust the amount awarded as necessary, but
in doing so shall take into account the number of complaints to the EMSP
generated by the defendant&#8217;s messages, the defendant&#8217;s degree of
culpability, the defendant&#8217;s prior history of such conduct, and the extent
of economic gain resulting from the conduct. Transmission of electronic mail
from an organization to its members shall not be deemed to be spam.

D. 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 the computer, computer network, computer
data, computer program and computer software involved in order to prevent
possible recurrence of the same or a similar act by another person and to
protect any trade secrets of any party and in such a way as to protect the
privacy of nonparties who complain about violations of this section.

E. The provisions of this article shall not be construed to limit any
person&#8217;s right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed by
law.

F. A civil action under this section must be commenced before expiration of the
time period prescribed in &#xA7; 8.01-40.1. In actions alleging injury arising
from the transmission of spam, personal jurisdiction may be exercised pursuant
to &#xA7; 8.01-328.1.

HISTORY: 1984, c. 751; 1985, c. 92; 1999, cc. 886, 904, 905; 2003, cc. 987,
1016; 2005, cc. 746, 761, 827; 2010, cc. 489, 529.