Federal · Title 47 — Telecommunications

47 U.S.C. § 501: General penalty

Misdemeanor

What this law says, in plain English

This statute imposes a general penalty for willfully violating, omitting, or causing violations of chapter requirements. Punishment is a fine up to $10,000 or up to one year imprisonment (or both); repeat offenders face up to two years imprisonment.

Read the full statutory text

Any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any act, matter, or thing, in this chapter prohibited or declared to be unlawful, or who willfully and knowingly omits or fails to do any act, matter, or thing in this chapter required to be done, or willfully and knowingly causes or suffers such omission or failure, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished for such offense, for which no penalty (other than a forfeiture) is provided in this chapter, by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both; except that any person, having been once convicted of an offense punishable under this section, who is subsequently convicted of violating any provision of this chapter punishable under this section, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.

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