Bill Text: CA AB925 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Intentional recording of telephonic communication.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB925 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB925-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: AB 925	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Low

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to amend Section  632   632.7  of
the Penal Code, relating to crimes.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 925, as amended, Low.  Confidential conversations:
eavesdropping.   Interception and intentional recording
of communication.  
   Existing law makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to
exceed $2,500, by imprisonment in county jail for not more than one
year or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment
to, without the consent of both parties, intercept or receive and
intentionally record, or assist in the interception or receipt and
intentional recording of, a communication transmitted between 2
devices, including cordless telephones and cellular radio telephones.
 
   This bill would increase the fine for this crime to not more than
$3,500.  
   Existing law makes it a crime to intentionally and without consent
of all parties to a confidential communication, by means of any
electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrop upon or record
the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried
on among the parties in the presence of one another or by means of a
telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio. Existing law
also makes evidence obtained as a result of eavesdropping upon or
recording a confidential communication inadmissible in any judicial,
administrative, legislative, or other proceeding.  
   This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical changes to those
provisions. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 632.7 of the   Penal
Code   is amended to read: 
   632.7.  (a) Every person who, without the consent of all parties
to a communication, intercepts or receives and intentionally records,
or assists in the interception or reception and intentional
recordation of, a communication transmitted between two cellular
radio telephones, a cellular radio telephone and a landline
telephone, two cordless telephones, a cordless telephone and a
landline telephone, or a cordless telephone and a cellular radio
telephone, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding  two
  three  thousand five hundred dollars 
($2,500),   ($3,500),  or by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by
both that fine and imprisonment. If the person has been convicted
previously of a violation of this section or of Section 631, 632,
632.5, 632.6, or 636, the person shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in a county
jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that
fine and imprisonment.
   (b) This section shall not apply to any of the following:
   (1)  Any   A  public utility engaged in
the business of providing communications services and facilities, or
to the officers, employees, or agents thereof, where the acts
otherwise prohibited are for the purpose of construction,
maintenance, conduct, or operation of the services and facilities of
the public utility.
   (2) The use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service
furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of the public utility.
   (3)  Any   A  telephonic communication
system used for communication exclusively within a state, county,
city and county, or city correctional facility.
   (c) As used in this section, each of the following terms have the
following meaning:
   (1) "Cellular radio telephone" means a wireless telephone
authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to operate in the
frequency bandwidth reserved for cellular radio telephones.
   (2) "Cordless telephone" means a two-way, low power communication
system consisting of two parts, a "base" unit which connects to the
public switched telephone network and a handset or "remote" unit,
that are connected by a radio link and authorized by the Federal
Communications Commission to operate in the frequency bandwidths
reserved for cordless telephones.
   (3) "Communication" includes, but is not limited to,
communications transmitted by voice, data, or image, including
facsimile. 
  SECTION 1.    Section 632 of the Penal Code is
amended to read:
   632.  (a) (1) A person who, intentionally and without the consent
of all parties to a confidential communication, by means of any
electronic amplifying or recording device, eavesdrops upon or records
the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried
on among the parties in the presence of one another or by means of a
telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio, shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500), or imprisonment in county jail not exceeding one year, or
in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
   (2) If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of
this section or Section 631, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the person
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars
($10,000), by imprisonment in county jail not exceeding one year, or
in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
   (b) For purposes of this section "person" means an individual,
business entity, or other legal entity, and an individual acting, or
purporting to act, for or on behalf of a government or subdivision of
a government, whether federal, state, or local. "Person" excludes an
individual known by all parties to a confidential communication to
be overhearing or recording the communication.
   (c) For purposes of this section "Confidential communication"
means a communication carried on in circumstances as may reasonably
indicate that a party to the communication desires the communication
to be confined to the participating parties. "Confidential
communication" excludes a communication made in a public gathering or
in a legislative, judicial, executive, or administrative proceeding
open to the public, or in any other circumstance in which the parties
to the communication may reasonably expect that the communication
may be overheard or recorded.
   (d) Except as proof in an action or prosecution for violation of
this section, no evidence obtained as a result of eavesdropping upon
or recording a confidential communication in violation of this
section shall be admissible in any judicial, administrative,
legislative, or other proceeding.
   (e) This section does not apply (1) to any public utility engaged
in the business of providing communications services and facilities,
or to the officers, employees or agents thereof, where the acts
otherwise prohibited by this section are for the purpose of
construction, maintenance, conduct or operation of the services and
facilities of the public utility, or (2) to the use of any
instrument, equipment, facility, or service furnished and used
pursuant to the tariffs of a public utility, or (3) to any telephonic
communication system used for communication exclusively within a
state, county, city and county, or city correctional facility.
   (f) This section does not apply to the use of hearing aids and
similar devices, by a person afflicted with impaired hearing, for the
purpose of overcoming the impairment to permit the hearing of sounds
ordinarily audible to the human ear.