N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15: Theft of services

§ 165.15 Theft of services.

A person is guilty of theft of services when:

1. He obtains or attempts to obtain a service, or induces or attempts

to induce the supplier of a rendered service to agree to payment

therefor on a credit basis, by the use of a credit card or debit card

which he knows to be stolen.

2. With intent to avoid payment for restaurant services rendered, or

for services rendered to him as a transient guest at a hotel, motel,

inn, tourist cabin, rooming house or comparable establishment, he avoids

or attempts to avoid such payment by unjustifiable failure or refusal to

pay, by stealth, or by any misrepresentation of fact which he knows to

be false. A person who fails or refuses to pay for such services is

presumed to have intended to avoid payment therefor; or

3. With intent to obtain railroad, subway, bus, air, taxi or any other

public transportation service without payment of the lawful charge

therefor, or to avoid payment of the lawful charge for such

transportation service which has been rendered to him, he obtains or

attempts to obtain such service or avoids or attempts to avoid payment

therefor by force, intimidation, stealth, deception or mechanical

tampering, or by unjustifiable failure or refusal to pay; or

4. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the

lawful charge for any telecommunications service, including, without

limitation, cable television service, or any gas, steam, sewer, water,

electrical, telegraph or telephone service which is provided for a

charge or compensation, he obtains or attempts to obtain such service

for himself or another person or avoids or attempts to avoid payment

therefor by himself or another person by means of (a) tampering or

making connection with the equipment of the supplier, whether by

mechanical, electrical, acoustical or other means, or (b) offering for

sale or otherwise making available, to anyone other than the provider of

a telecommunications service for such service provider's own use in the

provision of its service, any telecommunications decoder or descrambler,

a principal function of which defeats a mechanism of electronic signal

encryption, jamming or individually addressed switching imposed by the

provider of any such telecommunications service to restrict the delivery

of such service, or (c) any misrepresentation of fact which he knows to

be false, or (d) any other artifice, trick, deception, code or device.

For the purposes of this subdivision the telecommunications decoder or

descrambler described in paragraph (b) above or the device described in

paragraph (d) above shall not include any non-decoding and

non-descrambling channel frequency converter or any television receiver

type-accepted by the federal communications commission. In any

prosecution under this subdivision, proof that telecommunications

equipment, including, without limitation, any cable television

converter, descrambler, or related equipment, has been tampered with or

otherwise intentionally prevented from performing its functions of

control of service delivery without the consent of the supplier of the

service, or that telecommunications equipment, including, without

limitation, any cable television converter, descrambler, receiver, or

related equipment, has been connected to the equipment of the supplier

of the service without the consent of the supplier of the service, shall

be presumptive evidence that the resident to whom the service which is

at the time being furnished by or through such equipment has, with

intent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a prospective

or already rendered service, created or caused to be created with

reference to such equipment, the condition so existing. A person who

tampers with such a device or equipment without the consent of the

supplier of the service is presumed to do so with intent to avoid, or to

enable another to avoid, payment for the service involved. In any

prosecution under this subdivision, proof that any telecommunications

decoder or descrambler, a principal function of which defeats a

mechanism of electronic signal encryption, jamming or individually

addressed switching imposed by the provider of any such

telecommunications service to restrict the delivery of such service, has

been offered for sale or otherwise made available by anyone other than

the supplier of such service shall be presumptive evidence that the

person offering such equipment for sale or otherwise making it available

has, with intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the

lawful charge for such service, obtained or attempted to obtain such

service for himself or another person or avoided or attempted to avoid

payment therefor by himself or another person; or

5. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the

lawful charge for any telephone service which is provided for a charge

or compensation he (a) sells, offers for sale or otherwise makes

available, without consent, an existing, canceled or revoked access

device; or (b) uses, without consent, an existing, canceled or revoked

access device; or (c) knowingly obtains any telecommunications service

with fraudulent intent by use of an unauthorized, false, or fictitious

name, identification, telephone number, or access device. For purposes

of this subdivision access device means any telephone calling card

number, credit card number, account number, mobile identification

number, electronic serial number or personal identification number that

can be used to obtain telephone service.

6. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a

prospective or already rendered service the charge or compensation for

which is measured by a meter or other mechanical device, he tampers with

such device or with other equipment related thereto, or in any manner

attempts to prevent the meter or device from performing its measuring

function, without the consent of the supplier of the service. In any

prosecution under this subdivision, proof that a meter or related

equipment has been tampered with or otherwise intentionally prevented

from performing its measuring function without the consent of the

supplier of the service shall be presumptive evidence that the person to

whom the service which is at the time being furnished by or through such

meter or related equipment has, with intent to avoid payment by himself

or another person for a prospective or already rendered service, created

or caused to be created with reference to such meter or related

equipment, the condition so existing. A person who tampers with such a

device or equipment without the consent of the supplier of the service

is presumed to do so with intent to avoid, or to enable another to

avoid, payment for the service involved; or

7. He knowingly accepts or receives the use and benefit of service,

including gas, steam or electricity service, which should pass through a

meter but has been diverted therefrom, or which has been prevented from

being correctly registered by a meter provided therefor, or which has

been diverted from the pipes, wires or conductors of the supplier

thereof. In any prosecution under this subdivision proof that service

has been intentionally diverted from passing through a meter, or has

been intentionally prevented from being correctly registered by a meter

provided therefor, or has been intentionally diverted from the pipes,

wires or conductors of the supplier thereof, shall be presumptive

evidence that the person who accepts or receives the use and benefit of

such service has done so with knowledge of the condition so existing; or

8. With intent to obtain, without the consent of the supplier thereof,

gas, electricity, water, steam or telephone service, he tampers with any

equipment designed to supply or to prevent the supply of such service

either to the community in general or to particular premises; or

9. With intent to avoid payment of the lawful charge for admission to

any theatre or concert hall, or with intent to avoid payment of the

lawful charge for admission to or use of a chair lift, gondola, rope-tow

or similar mechanical device utilized in assisting skiers in

transportation to a point of ski arrival or departure, he obtains or

attempts to obtain such admission without payment of the lawful charge

therefor.

10. Obtaining or having control over labor in the employ of another

person, or of business, commercial or industrial equipment or facilities

of another person, knowing that he is not entitled to the use thereof,

and with intent to derive a commercial or other substantial benefit for

himself or a third person, he uses or diverts to the use of himself or a

third person such labor, equipment or facilities.

11. With intent to avoid payment by himself, herself, or another

person of the lawful charge for use of any computer, computer service,

or computer network which is provided for a charge or compensation he or

she uses, causes to be used, accesses, or attempts to use or access a

computer, computer service, or computer network and avoids or attempts

to avoid payment therefor. In any prosecution under this subdivision

proof that a person overcame or attempted to overcome any device or

coding system a function of which is to prevent the unauthorized use of

said computer or computer service shall be presumptive evidence of an

intent to avoid payment for the computer or computer service.

12. With intent to avoid payment for services rendered by a

barbershop, salon or beauty shop, he or she avoids or attempts to avoid

such payment by unjustifiable failure or refusal to pay, by stealth, or

by any misrepresentation of fact which he or she knows to be false.

Theft of services is a class A misdemeanor, provided, however, that

theft of cable television service as defined by the provisions of

paragraphs (a), (c) and (d) of subdivision four of this section, and

having a value not in excess of one hundred dollars by a person who has

not been previously convicted of theft of services under subdivision

four of this section is a violation, that theft of services under

subdivision nine of this section by a person who has not been previously

convicted of theft of services under subdivision nine of this section is

a violation, that theft of services under subdivision twelve of this

section by a person who has not previously been convicted of theft of

services under subdivision twelve of this section is a violation, and

provided further, however, that theft of services of any telephone

service under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision five of this section

having a value in excess of one thousand dollars or by a person who has

been previously convicted within five years of theft of services under

paragraph (a) of subdivision five of this section is a class E felony.