Legal Definitions - Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

The term Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands refers to three distinct insular areas of the United States, each possessing its own unique legal framework that operates alongside federal U.S. laws. While they are U.S. territories, their local statutes can differ significantly from those in the fifty states, particularly concerning digital communications, consumer protection, and certain criminal offenses.

Specifically, their legal landscapes include:

• Commercial Email and Spam: Unlike many U.S. states, these territories generally do not have specific local laws regulating commercial email or spam. Therefore, federal laws, such as the CAN-SPAM Act, primarily govern these activities.
• Telemarketing and Telephonic Anti-Solicitation: Each territory has its own regulations for telemarketing practices. Guam requires telemarketers to register and adheres to specific regulatory guidelines. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also regulate telemarketing practices, with laws in place to prohibit abusive or deceptive telephonic solicitations.
• Unlawful Trade Practices: Both Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have enacted laws specifically prohibiting deceptive or unfair trade practices, aiming to protect consumers from misleading business conduct.
• Pornography and Obscene Content: Guam has laws prohibiting the display of indecent content to children through electronic media. Similarly, the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit obscene internet contact with minors.
• Computer-Related Crime: Guam criminalizes indecent electronic displays to children and imposes criminal limits on the use of email by registered sex offenders. Puerto Rico's penal code makes it a misdemeanor to intrude on a person's tranquility by sending emails that are threatening, abusive, obscene, or lewd.

Here are some examples illustrating these legal distinctions:

• Example 1 (Telemarketing in Puerto Rico): A mainland-based company launches a new marketing campaign, making unsolicited sales calls to residents in Puerto Rico. The company's telemarketers use aggressive sales tactics and repeatedly call individuals who have previously requested not to be contacted. Under Puerto Rico's telemarketing regulations, these practices could be deemed abusive and unlawful, subjecting the company to penalties under local statutes, even if their practices might be permissible in some U.S. states.

• Example 2 (Deceptive Trade Practices in the U.S. Virgin Islands): A local electronics store in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, advertises a "limited-time offer" for a new television at a significantly reduced price. However, when customers arrive, they are informed that the advertised model is out of stock and are pressured to buy a more expensive, inferior alternative. This bait-and-switch tactic would likely fall under the U.S. Virgin Islands' prohibitions against deceptive trade practices, allowing consumers to seek recourse under local consumer protection laws.

• Example 3 (Computer-Related Crime in Guam): An individual residing in Guam creates a website featuring sexually explicit images and stories that are easily accessible to minors without any age verification or warnings. This content is widely viewed by children in the territory. This action would violate Guam's laws criminalizing indecent electronic displays to children, leading to potential prosecution under their local criminal code.