Current through the 2023 Legislative Sessions
Section 51-27-01 - [Contingent Expiration Date - See Note] DefinitionsIn this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Assist the transmission" means actions taken by a person to provide substantial assistance or support that enables any person to formulate, compose, send, originate, initiate, or transmit a commercial electronic mail message when the person providing the assistance knows or consciously avoids knowing that the initiator of the commercial electronic mail message is engaged, or intends to engage, in any practice that violates chapter 51-15.2. "Commercial electronic mail message" means an electronic mail message sent to promote real property, goods, or services for sale or lease. The term does not mean an electronic mail message to which an interactive computer service provider has attached an advertisement in exchange for free use of an electronic mail account if the sender has agreed to such an arrangement.3. "Electronic mail address" means a destination, commonly expressed as a string of characters, to which electronic mail may be sent or delivered.4. "Identifying information" means any information that can be used to access an individual's financial account or to obtain goods and services, including an individual's address, birth date, social security number, driver's license number, nondriver governmental identification number, telephone number, bank account number, student identification, credit or debit card number, personal identification number, unique biometric data, employee or payroll number, automated or electronic signature, computer image, photograph, screen name, or password. The term does not include information that is lawfully obtained from publicly available sources or from federal, state, or local government records lawfully made available to the general public.5. "Initiate the transmission" refers to the action by the original sender of an electronic mail message, not to the action by any intervening interactive computer service that may handle or retransmit the message, unless the intervening interactive computer service assists in the transmission of an electronic mail message when the interactive computer service knows, or consciously avoids knowing, that the person initiating the transmission is engaged, or intends to engage, in any act or practice that violates chapter 51-15.6. "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 a service or system that provides access to the internet and systems operated or services offered by libraries and educational institutions.7. "Internet domain name" refers to a globally unique, hierarchical reference to an internet host or service, assigned through centralized internet naming authorities, comprising a series of character strings separated by periods, with the right-most string specifying the top of the hierarchy.8. "Web page" means a location that has a single uniform resource locator with respect to the world wide web or another location that can be accessed on the internet.As provided by section S.L. 2003, ch. 439, § 2, this section becomes ineffective upon the effective date contained in the certification of federal legislation that preempts state regulation of false, misleading, or unsolicited commercial electronic mail message from the Governor to the Legislative Council.