Legal Definitions - Pennsylvania

In a legal context, Pennsylvania refers to the specific body of laws enacted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to regulate various activities within its borders. These laws cover a wide range of areas, including consumer protection against unwanted solicitations and deceptive business practices, as well as criminal offenses related to obscenity and the misuse of computers. When a legal issue arises within Pennsylvania, these state-specific statutes dictate the rights, responsibilities, and potential penalties involved.

Here are examples illustrating how various Pennsylvania laws apply:

• Commercial Email, Spam, Faxes, Texts, and Other Media Anti-Solicitation: Pennsylvania's Unsolicited Telecommunications Advertisement Act prohibits sending unwanted commercial electronic messages, faxes, or texts to residents without their consent.
  • Example 1: A national online retailer, without any prior business relationship or express permission, sends a mass email advertisement for its new clothing line to thousands of Pennsylvania residents. This action could violate Pennsylvania's anti-spam laws because the emails are unsolicited commercial advertisements sent to residents of the Commonwealth.
  • Example 2: A local real estate agent in Philadelphia uses an automated system to send text messages to hundreds of phone numbers, advertising open houses, without verifying if the recipients have opted in to receive such messages. This practice could be in violation of Pennsylvania's law against unsolicited telecommunications advertisements via text.
• Telemarketing and Telephonic Anti-Solicitation: The Telemarketer Registration Act in Pennsylvania regulates telemarketing calls and protects residents from unwanted sales calls, especially those on the state's "Do Not Call" list.
  • Example 1: A company based outside of Pennsylvania repeatedly calls a resident in Pittsburgh to sell a vacation package, even though the resident's phone number is registered on the Pennsylvania Do Not Call list. This telemarketing firm could face penalties under Pennsylvania's Telemarketer Registration Act for violating the anti-solicitation provisions.
  • Example 2: A home improvement company in Scranton makes unsolicited calls to potential customers, failing to identify themselves clearly at the beginning of the call or to provide a mechanism for the recipient to opt out of future calls. These actions could constitute a violation of Pennsylvania's telemarketing regulations.
• Unlawful Trade Practices: Pennsylvania's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law protects consumers from deceptive business practices, false advertising, and other forms of fraud.
  • Example 1: A car dealership in Harrisburg advertises a "limited-time financing offer" with an incredibly low interest rate, but when customers arrive, they are told the offer has just expired or they don't qualify, and are instead pushed into a higher-rate loan. This deceptive advertising could be considered an unfair trade practice under Pennsylvania law.
  • Example 2: A roofing contractor operating in Allentown accepts a large down payment from a homeowner for a new roof, but then never begins the work and becomes unreachable. This fraudulent behavior would likely fall under Pennsylvania's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, allowing the homeowner to seek legal recourse.
  • Example 3: A store in Erie sells a dietary supplement, claiming it can cure a specific illness, despite having no scientific evidence to support such a claim. This false representation of a product's benefits could be deemed an unlawful trade practice in Pennsylvania.
• Pornography: Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18, Chapter 59, § 5903 addresses offenses related to Public Indecency, Obscene and Other Sexual Materials and Performances, defining what constitutes illegal obscene material based on community standards.
  • Example 1: An individual in Philadelphia attempts to sell magazines depicting explicit sexual acts that lack any serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, and are patently offensive to prevailing community standards. This could lead to charges under Pennsylvania's laws against distributing obscene materials.
  • Example 2: A person publicly displays sexually explicit images in a manner that is clearly intended to be offensive and is not protected as artistic expression, in a public park in Pittsburgh where children are present. This act could be prosecuted under Pennsylvania's public indecency and obscenity statutes.
• Computer-Related Crime: Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 18, Chapter 76, outlines various Computer Offenses, criminalizing unauthorized access, data manipulation, and other misuse of computer systems.
  • Example 1: A former employee in Lancaster, after being terminated, uses their old login credentials to access their previous company's server without authorization and deletes critical project files. This action would constitute a computer offense under Pennsylvania law, specifically unauthorized access and data destruction.
  • Example 2: An individual in Scranton uses a phishing scam to trick multiple Pennsylvania residents into revealing their banking login information, which they then use to transfer funds from the victims' accounts. This would be considered a computer-related crime, involving unauthorized access and theft facilitated by computer systems, under Pennsylvania statutes.
  • Example 3: A student at a university in State College intentionally introduces a virus into the campus network, causing widespread disruption and damage to the university's computer systems. This act of cyber vandalism would be a violation of Pennsylvania's computer offense laws.