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March 29, 2024 Rain | 40°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Section 42A: Telecommunication service; fraud; penalty

Section 42A. Whoever, with intent to defraud, obtains, or attempts to obtain, or aids or abets another in obtaining, any telecommunications services valued less than five thousand dollars by any false representation, false statement, or stratagem, by unauthorized charging to the account of another, by installing or tampering with any facilities or equipment or by any other means, shall be punished by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two and one-half years in a house of correction, or both.

Whoever, with intent to defraud, obtains, or attempts to obtain, or aids or abets another in obtaining, any telecommunications services of a value equal to or greater than five thousand dollars by any false representation, false statement, or stratagem, by unauthorized charging to the account of another, by installing or tampering with any facilities or equipment or by any other means, shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ten years in a state prison, or both.

As used in this section, the words ''telecommunication service'' shall include the transmission of intelligence by a community antenna television system licensed pursuant to the provisions of chapter one hundred and sixty-six A.