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                         SENATE BILL 5799

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Senators T. Sheldon, West, Gardner, Hochstatter and Oke; by request of Department of Information Services

Read first time 02/02/2001.  Referred to Committee on Economic Development & Telecommunications.

Prescribing criminal penalties for fraudulently obtaining or using digital signatures and digital certificates.

    AN ACT Relating to fraudulently obtaining or using digital signatures and digital certificates; adding a new section to chapter 9.38 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 9.38 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) A person shall not knowingly misrepresent the person's identity or authorization to obtain a public key certificate used to reference a private key for creating a digital signature.

    (2) A person shall not knowingly forge a digital signature as defined in RCW 19.34.020(16).

    (3) A person shall not knowingly present a public key certificate for which the person is not the owner of the corresponding private key in order to obtain unauthorized access to information or engage in an unauthorized transaction.

    (4) The definitions in RCW 19.34.020 apply to this section.

    (5) A person who violates this section is guilty of a class C felony.

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