West Virginia Code 61-3C-16 – Civil relief; damages
(a) Any person whose property or person is injured by reason of a violation of any provision of this article may sue therefor in circuit court and may be entitled to recover for each violation:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 61-3C-16
- Access: means to instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve data from, intercept data from, or otherwise make use of any computer, computer network, computer program, computer software, computer data, or other computer resources. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- computer: includes any connected or directly related device, equipment, or facility which enables the computer to store, retrieve, or communicate computer programs, computer data, or the results of computer operations to or from a person, another computer, or another device, file servers, mainframe systems, desktop personal computers, laptop personal computers, tablet personal computers, cellular telephones, game consoles, and any other electronic data storage device or equipment, but such term does not include an automated typewriter or typesetter, a portable hand-held calculator, or other similar device. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- Computer data: means any representation of knowledge, facts, concepts, instruction, or other information computed, classified, processed, transmitted, received, retrieved, originated, stored, manifested, measured, detected, recorded, reproduced, handled, or utilized by a computer, computer network, computer program, or computer software, and may be in any medium, including, but not limited to, computer printouts, microfilm, microfiche, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, punch paper tape, or punch cards, or it may be stored internally in read-only memory or random access memory of a computer or any other peripheral device. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- Computer program: means an ordered set of computer data representing instructions or statements, in a form readable by a computer, which controls, directs, or otherwise influences the functioning of a computer or computer network. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- Computer software: means a set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with computer data or with the operation of a computer, computer program, or computer network. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Owner: means any person who owns or leases or is a licensee of a computer, computer network, computer data, computer program, computer software, computer resources, or computer supplies. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- Person: means any natural person, general partnership, limited partnership, trust, association, corporation, joint venture, or any state, county, or municipal government and any subdivision, branch, department, or agency thereof. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Property: includes :
(A) Real property. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
- Value: means having any potential to provide any direct or indirect gain or advantage to any person. See West Virginia Code 61-3C-3
(1) Compensatory damages;
(2) Punitive damages; and
(3) Such other relief, including injunctive relief, as the court may deem appropriate.
Without limiting the generality of the term, “damages” shall include loss of profits.
(b) At the request of any party to an action brought pursuant to this section, the court may, in its discretion, conduct all legal proceedings in such a manner as to protect the secrecy and security of the computer network, computer data, computer program or computer software involved in order to prevent any possible recurrence of the same or a similar act by another person or to protect any trade secret or confidential information of any person. For the purposes of this section “trade secret” means the whole or any portion or phase of any scientific or technological information, design, process, procedure or formula or improvement which is secret and of value. A trade secret shall be presumed to be secret when the owner thereof takes measures to prevent it from becoming available to persons other than those authorized by the owner to have access thereto for a limited purpose.
(c) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit any person's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed by law.
(d) A civil action under this section must be commenced before the earlier of: (1) Five years after the last act in the course of conduct constituting a violation of this article; or (2) two years after the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered the last act in the course of conduct constituting a violation of this article.