As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following definitions:

(a) “Electronic mail” or “e-mail” means an electronic message that is sent to an e-mail address and transmitted between two or more telecommunications devices, computers, or electronic devices capable of receiving electronic messages through a local, regional, or global computer network, whether or not the message is converted to hard copy format after receipt, viewed upon transmission, or stored for later retrieval.

(b) “Electronic record” means a document or record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.

(c) “Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to, or logically associated with, an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record.

(d) “Fax” is an abbreviation for “facsimile” and refers, as indicated by the context, to a facsimile transmission or to a document so transmitted.

(e) “Fax machine” means a machine that can send and receive a facsimile transmission using industry standards and includes a fax modem connected to a computer.

(f) “Fax transmission” means the electronic transmission and reconstruction of a document that prints a duplicate of the original document at the receiving end. “Fax transmission” includes, but is not limited to, the use of a facsimile machine or the process of integrating an electronic fax software application to automate the sending and receiving of a faxed document as an electronic record, in portable data format, by e-mail or similar electronic means.

(g) “Information processing system” means an electronic system for creating, generating, sending, receiving, storing, displaying, retrieving, or processing information, but does not include a fax machine.

(h) “Instructions” and “levying officer instructions” mean a written request to a levying officer to serve process, perform a levy, execute an arrest warrant, or perform some other act.

(i) “Legal entity” means the legal form of an artificial person and includes a corporation, defunct corporation, unincorporated association, partnership, public agency, limited liability company, joint stock company or association, and limited liability partnership.

(j) “Levying officer” means the sheriff or marshal acting as a ministerial officer pursuant to § 26608 of the Government Code.

(k) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium, or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(l) “Transmission record” means the electronic record or document printed by the sending fax machine, stating the telephone number of the receiving fax machine, the number of pages sent, the transmission time and date, and an indication of any errors in transmission.

(Added by Stats. 2010, Ch. 680, Sec. 4. (AB 2394) Effective January 1, 2011.)