(a) The following persons may bring an action against a person who violates or is in violation of § 47-18-5203:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-18-5204

  • Ascertainable loss: means an identifiable deprivation, detriment or injury arising from the identity theft or from any unfair, misleading or deceptive act or practice, even when the precise amount of the loss is not known. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Attorney general: means the attorney general and reporter, or the attorney general and reporter's designee. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Internet: means the global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet protocol (IP), or its subsequent extensions, and that is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite, or its subsequent extensions, or other IP-compatible protocols, and that provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on communications and related infrastructure. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Person: means a natural person, consumer, individual, governmental agency, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, incorporated or unincorporated association, and any other legal or commercial entity however organized. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Web page: means a location that has a single uniform resource locator or other single location with respect to the internet. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
(1)

(A) A person who:

(i) Is engaged in the business of providing Internet access service to the public, owns a web page, or owns a trademark; and
(ii) Suffers ascertainable loss by a violation of § 47-18-5203.
(B) An action brought under subdivision (a)(1)(A) may seek to recover the greater of actual damages or five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000); or
(2)

(A) An individual who suffers an ascertainable loss by a violation of § 47-18-5203 may bring an action, but only against a person who has directly violated § 47-18-5203.
(B) An action brought under subdivision (a)(2)(A) may seek to enjoin further violations of § 47-18-5203 and to recover the greater of three (3) times the amount of actual damages or five thousand dollars ($5,000), per violation.
(b) The attorney general and reporter or a district attorney general may bring an action against a person who violates or is in violation of § 47-18-5203 to enjoin further violations of § 47-18-5203 and to recover a civil penalty of up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), per violation.
(c) In an action pursuant to this part, a court may, in addition, do either or both of the following:

(1) Increase the recoverable damages to an amount up to three (3) times the damages otherwise recoverable under subsection (a) in cases in which the defendant has established a pattern and practice of violating § 47-18-5203; or
(2) Award costs of the suit and reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
(d) The remedies provided in this part do not preclude the seeking of remedies, including criminal remedies, under any other applicable law.
(e) For purposes of subdivision (a)(1), multiple violations of § 47-18-5203 resulting from any single action or conduct shall constitute one (1) violation.
(f) No provider of an interactive computer service may be held liable under this part or any other state law for identifying, removing, or disabling access to content that resides on an Internet web page or other online location that such provider believes in good faith is used to engage in a violation of this part.
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