In this subtitle, “course of conduct” means a persistent pattern of conduct, composed of a series of acts over time, that shows a continuity of purpose.

In this section: “stalking” means a malicious course of conduct that includes approaching or pursuing another where: the person intends to place or knows or reasonably should have known the conduct would place another in reasonable fear: of serious bodily injury; of an assault in any degree; of rape or sexual offense as defined by §§ 3–303 through 3–308 of this title or attempted rape or sexual offense in any degree; of false imprisonment; or of death; or that a third person likely will suffer any of the acts listed in item 1 of this item; or the person intends to cause or knows or reasonably should have known that the conduct would cause serious emotional distress to another; and “stalking” includes conduct described in item (1) of this subsection that occurs: in person; by electronic communication, as defined in § 3–805 of this subtitle; or through the use of a device that can pinpoint or track the location of another without the person’s knowledge or consent. The provisions of this section do not apply to conduct that is: performed to ensure compliance with a court order; performed to carry out a specific lawful commercial purpose; or authorized, required, or protected by local, State, or federal law. A person may not engage in stalking. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both. A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both if: the person had an interim, temporary, or final protective order in effect against the person at the time of the offense in which the victim was the petitioner; the person had a court order in effect against the person at the time of the offense prohibiting the behavior described in subsection (a) of this section involving the victim; the person has previously been convicted once of a violation of this section; or the person previously has been convicted once of a crime under the laws of another state that would be a crime under subsection (c) of this section if committed in this State. A sentence imposed under this section may be separate from and consecutive to or concurrent with a sentence for any other crime based on the acts establishing a violation of this section.

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. “Residence” includes the yard, grounds, outbuildings, and common areas surrounding a residence. “Visual surveillance” has the meaning stated in § 3–901 of this title. A person may not follow another in or about a public place, conduct visual surveillance of an area of another’s residence where the other has a reasonable expectation of privacy, or maliciously engage in a course of conduct that alarms or seriously annoys the other: with the intent to harass, alarm, or annoy the other; after receiving a reasonable warning or request to stop by or on behalf of the other; and without a legal purpose. This section does not apply to a peaceable activity intended to express a political view or provide information to others. This section may not be construed in a manner that infringes on any right guaranteed under the United States Constitution or the Maryland Declaration of Rights. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to: for a first offense, imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or a fine not exceeding $500 or both; and for a second or subsequent offense, imprisonment not exceeding 180 days or a fine not exceeding $1,000 or both.

A person may not use telephone facilities or equipment to make: an anonymous call that is reasonably expected to annoy, abuse, torment, harass, or embarrass another; repeated calls with the intent to annoy, abuse, torment, harass, or embarrass another; or a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $500 or both.

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. “Electronic communication” means the act of transmitting any information, data, writing, image, or communication by the use of a computer or any other electronic means, including a communication that involves the use of e–mail, an instant messaging service, an Internet website, a social media application, a network call, a facsimile machine, or any other Internet–based communication tool. “Electronic conduct” means the use of a computer or a computer network to: build a fake social media profile; pose as another, including a fictitious person in an electronic communication; disseminate or encourage others to disseminate information concerning the sexual activity, as defined in § 3–809 of this subtitle, of a minor; disseminate a real or doctored image of a minor; engage or encourage others to engage in the repeated, continuing, or sustained use of electronic communication to contact a minor; make a statement to provoke a third party to stalk or harass a minor; or subscribe a minor to a pornographic website. “Instant messaging service” means a computer service allowing two or more users to communicate with each other in real time. “Interactive computer service” means an information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including a system that provides access to the Internet and cellular phones. “Social media application” means any program, software, or website that allows a person to become a registered user for the purpose of establishing personal relationships with one or more other users through: direct or real–time communication; or the creation of websites or profiles capable of being viewed by the public or other users. “Social media profile” means a website or profile created using a social media application. A person may not maliciously engage in a course of conduct, through the use of electronic communication, that alarms or seriously annoys another: with the intent to harass, alarm, or annoy the other; after receiving a reasonable warning or request to stop by or on behalf of the other; and without a legal purpose. A person may not use an interactive computer service to maliciously engage in a course of conduct that inflicts serious emotional distress on a minor or places a minor in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury with the intent: to kill, injure, harass, or cause serious emotional distress to the minor; or to place the minor in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury. A person may not maliciously engage in an electronic communication if: the electronic communication is part of a series of communications and has the effect of: intimidating or harassing a minor; and causing physical injury or serious emotional distress to a minor; and the person engaging in the electronic communication intends to: intimidate or harass the minor; and cause physical injury or serious emotional distress to the minor. A person may not maliciously engage in a single significant act or course of conduct using an electronic communication if: the person’s conduct, when considered in its entirety, has the effect of: intimidating or harassing a minor; and causing physical injury or serious emotional distress to a minor; the person intends to: intimidate or harass the minor; and cause physical injury or serious emotional distress to the minor; and in the case of a single significant act, the communication: is made after receiving a reasonable warning or request to stop; is sent with a reasonable expectation that the recipient would share the communication with a third party; or shocks the conscience. A person may not maliciously engage in electronic conduct if: the act of electronic conduct has the effect of: intimidating or harassing a minor; and causing physical injury or serious emotional distress to a minor; and the person intends to: intimidate or harass the minor; and cause physical injury or serious emotional distress to the minor. A person may not violate this section with the intent to induce a minor to commit suicide. It is not a violation of this section for any of the following persons to provide information, facilities, or technical assistance to another who is authorized by federal or State law to intercept or provide electronic communication or to conduct surveillance of electronic communication, if a court order directs the person to provide the information, facilities, or technical assistance: a provider of electronic communication; an officer, employee, agent, landlord, or custodian of a provider of electronic communication; or a person specified in a court order directing the provision of information, facilities, or technical assistance to another who is authorized by federal or State law to intercept or provide electronic communication or to conduct surveillance of electronic communication. Subsection (b)(1) through (5) of this section does not apply to a peaceable activity: intended to express a political view or provide information to others; or conducted for a lawful purpose. A person who violates subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both. A person who violates subsection (b)(6) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both.

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. “Commercial electronic mail message” means an electronic message sent primarily for the purpose of commercial advertisement or promotion of: a commercial product; a commercial service; the content on an Internet website; or a website operated for a commercial purpose. “Domain name” means any alphanumeric designation that is registered with or assigned by a domain name registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name registration authority as part of an electronic mail address on the Internet. “Electronic mail service provider” means any person, including an Internet service provider, that is an intermediary in sending and receiving electronic mail and that provides to the public the ability to send or receive electronic mail to or from an electronic mail account or online user account. “Financial institution” has the same meaning as provided in § 1–101 of the Financial Institutions Article. “Header information” means the source, destination, and routing information attached to an electronic mail message, including the originating domain name and originating electronic mail address, and any other information that appears in the line identifying or purporting to identify a person initiating the message, and technical information that authenticates the sender of an electronic mail message for network security or network management purposes. The term “initiate”, when used with respect to a commercial electronic mail message, means to originate or transmit the message or to procure the origination or transmission of the message and does not include actions that constitute routine conveyance of such message. “Internet” means the international computer network of both federal and nonfederal interoperable packet switched data networks. “Internet protocol address” means the string of numbers by which a location on the Internet is identified by routers or other computers connected to the Internet. “Materially falsified” means altered or concealed in a manner that would impair the ability of one of the following to identify, locate, or respond to a person who initiated an electronic mail message or to investigate an alleged violation of this section: a recipient of the message; an Internet access service processing the message on behalf of a recipient; a person alleging a violation of this section; or a law enforcement agency. “Multiple” means: more than 10 commercial electronic mail messages during a 24–hour period; more than 100 commercial electronic mail messages during a 30–day period; or more than 1,000 commercial electronic mail messages during a 1–year period. “Protected computer” means a computer used in intrastate or interstate communication. “Routine conveyance” means the transmission, routing, relaying, handling, or storing, through an automatic technical process, of an electronic mail message for which another person has identified the recipients or provided the recipient addresses. A person may not conspire to or knowingly: use a protected computer of another to relay or retransmit multiple commercial electronic mail messages with the intent to deceive or mislead recipients or an electronic mail service provider as to the origin of the message; materially falsify header information in multiple commercial electronic mail messages and intentionally initiate the transmission of the messages; register, using information that materially falsifies the identity of the actual registrant, for 15 or more electronic mail accounts or online user accounts or two or more domain names and intentionally initiate the transmission of multiple commercial electronic mail messages from one or any combination of accounts or domain names; falsely represent the right to use five or more Internet protocol addresses and intentionally initiate the transmission of multiple commercial electronic mail messages from the Internet protocol addresses; access a protected computer of another without authorization, and intentionally initiate the transmission of multiple electronic mail advertisements from or through the protected computer; violate item (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this subsection by providing or selecting addresses to which a message was transmitted, knowing that: the electronic mail addresses of the recipients were obtained using an automated means from an Internet website or proprietary online service operated by another person; and the website or online service included, at the time the addresses were obtained, a notice stating that the operator of the website or online service will not transfer addresses maintained by the website or online service to any other party for the purposes of initiating or enabling others to initiate electronic mail messages; or violate item (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this subsection by providing or selecting electronic mail addresses of recipients obtained using an automated means that generates possible electronic mail addresses by combining names, letters, or numbers into numerous permutations. A person who violates subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both. A person who violates subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section involving the transmission of more than 250 commercial electronic mail messages during a 24–hour period, 2,500 commercial electronic mail messages during any 30–day period, or 25,000 commercial electronic mail messages during any 1–year period is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both. A person who violates subsection (b)(3) of this section involving 20 or more electronic mail accounts or 10 or more domain names and intentionally initiates the transmission of multiple commercial electronic mail messages from the accounts or using the domain names is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both. A person who violates subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section that causes a loss of $500 or more during any 1–year period is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both. A person who violates subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section in concert with three or more other persons as the leader or organizer of the action that constitutes the violation is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both. A person who violates subsection (b)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section in furtherance of a felony, or who has previously been convicted of an offense under the laws of this State, another state, or under any federal law involving the transmission of multiple commercial electronic mail messages is guilty of a felony and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $25,000 or both. A person who violates subsection (b)(6) or (7) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both. In addition to any other sentence authorized by law, the court may direct that a person convicted of a violation of this section forfeit to the State: any money and other income, including all proceeds earned but not yet received by a defendant from a third party as a result of the defendant’s violation of this section; and all computer equipment, computer software, and personal property used in connection with a violation of this section known by the owner to have been used in violation of this section. An action brought under this subsection shall be commenced within 2 years after the commission of the act. The Attorney General may institute a civil action against a person who violates this section to recover a civil penalty not exceeding: $25,000 per day of violation; or not less than $2 nor more than $8 per commercial electronic mail message initiated in violation of this section. The Attorney General may seek an injunction in a civil action to prohibit a person who has engaged in or is engaged in a violation of this section from engaging in the violation. The Attorney General may enforce criminal violations of this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to have any effect on the lawfulness of the adoption, implementation, or enforcement by an electronic mail service provider of a policy of declining to transmit, route, relay, handle, or store certain types of electronic mail messages under any other provision of law.

In this section, “laser pointer” means a device that emits light amplified by the stimulated emission of radiation that is visible to the human eye. This section may not be construed to apply to the use of a laser pointer: for educational purposes by individuals engaged in an organized meeting or training class; or during the normal course of work or trade activities. A person may not knowingly use a laser pointer to illuminate another in a public place in a manner that harasses or endangers the other. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $500.

In this section, “laser pointer” has the meaning stated in § 3–806 of this subtitle. This section does not apply to the use of a laser pointer: by an individual conducting research and development or flight testing for an aircraft manufacturer or the Federal Aviation Administration; by a member of the United States Department of Defense or the United States Department of Homeland Security acting in an official capacity during an activity related to research and development, flight testing, or training; by a law enforcement officer, as defined in § 1–101 of the Public Safety Article, acting in an official capacity; by an individual attempting to make the individual’s location known; or by an individual attempting to give a warning signal. A person may not knowingly and willfully shine, point, or focus the beam of a laser pointer on an individual operating an aircraft. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $2,500 or both.

A person may not file a lien or an encumbrance in a public or private record against the real or personal property of another if the person knows that the lien or encumbrance is: false; or contains or is based on a materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to: for a first violation, imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both; and for each subsequent violation, imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both.

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. “Distribute” means to give, sell, transfer, disseminate, publish, upload, circulate, broadcast, make available, allow access to, or engage in any other form of transmission, electronic or otherwise. “Harm” means: physical injury; serious emotional distress; or economic damages. “Intimate parts” means the naked genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female nipple. “Sexual activity” means: sexual intercourse, including genital–genital, oral–genital, anal–genital, or oral–anal; masturbation; or sadomasochistic abuse. “Visual representation” of an identifiable person means: an unaltered image of the person; or an image created with or without using other existing depictions of the person that is indistinguishable from the person, from the perspective of an ordinary person. “Visual representation” includes a computer–generated image. “Visual representation” does not include an image or depiction that is: a drawing; a cartoon; a sculpture; or a painting. This section does not apply to: lawful and common practices of law enforcement, the reporting of unlawful conduct, or legal proceedings; or situations involving voluntary exposure in public or commercial settings. An interactive computer service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 230(f)(2), is not liable under this section for content provided by another person. A person may not knowingly distribute a visual representation of another identifiable person that displays the other person with intimate parts exposed or while engaged in an act of sexual activity: with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the other person; under circumstances in which the person knew that the other person did not consent to the distribution; or with reckless disregard as to whether the person consented to the distribution; and under circumstances in which the other person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private. A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or a fine not exceeding $5,000 or both. A person who violates this section is subject to § 5–106(b) of the Courts Article. A person whose visual representation was distributed in violation of this section has a civil cause of action for defamation per se or invasion of privacy against any person who distributed the visual representation. In addition to other relief, the court may award reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff under this subsection. A visual representation of a victim that is part of a court record for a case arising under this section: subject to item (2) of this subsection, may not be made available for public inspection; and except as otherwise ordered by the court, may only be made available for inspection in relation to a criminal charge or civil action under this section to: court personnel; a jury in a criminal case brought under this section; the State’s Attorney or the State’s Attorney’s designee; the Attorney General or the Attorney General’s designee; a law enforcement officer; the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney; the defendant or the defendant’s attorney; or the victim or the victim’s attorney.