Any person who willfully uses encryption to further any criminal activity shall be guilty of an offense which is separate and distinct from the predicate criminal activity and punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Attorney's Note

Under the Virginia Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class 1 misdemeanorup to 12 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Va. Code § 18.2-11

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Terms Used In Virginia Code 18.2-152.15

  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230

“Encryption” means the enciphering of intelligible data into unintelligible form or the deciphering of unintelligible data into intelligible form.

1999, c. 455.