Law / United States / Massachusetts
Obtaining computer services by fraud or misrepresentation; penalties
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, § 33A
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not obtain, or attempt to obtain, a subscription-based or otherwise paid commercial computer service by false representation, false statement, unauthorized account charging, equipment tampering, or any other fraudulent means.
- This section is scoped to a service its proprietor offers to others for monetary consideration, so it does not by itself reach an openly published, unpaid page.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Punishable by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than two and one-half years, a fine of not more than $3,000, or both.
Penalty structure
Fixed criminal fine cap; the section separately authorizes up to two and one-half years' imprisonment in the house of correction, alone or together with the fine.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 6 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 3,000
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Whoever, with intent to defraud, obtains or attempts to obtain a commercial computer service by false representation, false statement, unauthorized charging to another's account, tampering with equipment, or any other means, is punished by up to two and one-half years in the house of correction, a fine of up to $3,000, or both.
"Commercial computer service" is defined as the use of, or access to or copying of data from, a computer, system, program, or network that its proprietor offers to others on a subscription or other paid basis, so the section reaches circumventing a paywall or subscription gate rather than accessing an openly published page. The codified text carries no session-law citation or amendment history showing a specific commencement day.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_web
Read the law
official text, Massachusetts General Laws, malegislature.gov