Wire fraud to obtain public utility information
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Every person who transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio or television communication any words, sounds, writings, signs, signals, or pictures for the purpose of furthering or executing a scheme or artifice to obtain, from a public utility, confidential, privileged, or proprietary information, trade secrets, trade lists, customer records, billing records, customer credit data, or accounting data by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, personations, or promises is guilty of an offense punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year.
History: Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 389. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.
Simplified explanation
Transmitting communications by wire, radio, or television to obtain a public utility's confidential information, trade secrets, or customer records by false pretenses is punishable by up to one year in county jail or a felony jail term.