Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2014 – Civil relief
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2014
- Communications provider: means an entity providing communications networks or services that enable consumers to access the Internet or destinations on the public switched telephone network via a computer modem. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2007
- Computer software: means a sequence of instructions written in any programming language that is executed on a computer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2007
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Internet: means the global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol (IP), or its subsequent extensions, and that is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite, or its subsequent extensions, or other IP-compatible protocols, and that provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high-level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described in this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 51:2007
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
A. A violation of this Chapter shall be considered an unfair trade practice and such violation shall subject the violator to all of the provisions of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law and as provided for in La. Rev. Stat. 51:1401 et seq.
B. Except for an action or other relief brought under Subsection A of this Section, the following persons may bring a civil action against a person who violates this Chapter:
(1) A provider of computer software who is adversely affected by the violation.
(2) An Internet service provider who is adversely affected by the violation.
(3) A trademark owner whose trademark is used without the authorization of the owner to deceive users in the course of any of the deceptive practices prohibited by this Section.
(4) The attorney general.
C. A person bringing an action under Subsection B of this Section may apply for injunctive relief to restrain any violation of this Chapter and seek to recover damages not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars for each violation.
D. The court may increase an award of actual damages in an action brought under this Section to an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages sustained if the court finds that the violations have occurred with such frequency with respect to a group of victims as to constitute a pattern or practice.
E. A plaintiff who prevails in an action filed under this Section is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
F. In the case of a violation of La. Rev. Stat. 51:2009(1)(b) that causes a communications provider to incur costs for the origination, transport, or termination of a call triggered using the modem of a customer of the communications provider as a result of a violation, the communications provider may bring a civil action against the violator to recover any or all of the following:
(1) The charges the carrier is obligated to pay to another carrier or to an information service provider as a result of the violation, including but not limited to charges for the origination, transport, or termination of the call.
(2) Costs of handling customer inquiries or complaints with respect to amounts billed for calls.
(3) Costs and reasonable attorney fees.
(4) An order to enjoin the violation.
Acts 2006, No. 392, §1.