West Virginia Code 46A-6G-5 – Violations; right of action for injunction, damages
(a) No person or organization may initiate an unauthorized bulk electronic mail message in violation of this article.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 46A-6G-5
- Bulk electronic mail message: means an electronic mail message sent in bulk to users of an interactive computer service who have not requested or solicited the message. See West Virginia Code 46A-6G-1
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Interactive computer service: means any information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that provides access to the Internet. See West Virginia Code 46A-6G-1
- Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, limited liability company or any other form or business association. See West Virginia Code 46A-6G-1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) A recipient of an unauthorized bulk electronic mail message in violation of this article may bring an action to recover actual damages for any injury sustained by the receipt of an unauthorized bulk electronic mail message. In lieu of actual damages, a minimum damage assessment of $1,000 may be recovered for violations of this article. Punitive damages may be awarded for the willful failure to cease initiating unauthorized bulk electronic mail messages. Court costs and reasonable attorney fees may be awarded for violations of this article.
(c) A recipient of an unauthorized bulk electronic mail message initiated in violation of this article may bring an action to enjoin the initiator from sending any further unauthorized bulk electronic mail messages. Any court costs or other costs incident to such action including reasonable attorney fees may be awarded.
(d) Initiating an unauthorized bulk electronic mail message to any computer or computer network located in this state shall constitute an act in the state for the purposes of section thirty-three, article three, chapter fifty-six of this code.
(e) Any interactive computer service provider or public utility whose property or person is injured by any violation of this article may bring an action to recover for any damages sustained, including, but not limited to, loss of profits. In addition, court costs and attorney fees may be recovered. The service provider may elect, in lieu of actual damages, to recover $10 for each and every unauthorized bulk electronic mail message transmitted in violation of this article, or $25,000 per day, whichever is greater.
(f) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit any person's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed by law.