943.455(5)
(5) Exception. This section does not affect the use by a person of cellular telephone services if the services have been paid for.
943.455 History
History: 1991 a. 39;
1993 a. 496.
943.46
943.46
Theft of cable television service. 943.46(1)(a)
(a) "Cable television service" has the meaning given in
s. 196.01 (1p). "Cable television service" does not include signals received by privately owned antennas that are not connected to a cable television system whether or not the same signals are provided by a cable television company.
943.46(1)(b)
(b) "Private financial gain" does not include the gain resulting to any individual from the private use in that individual's dwelling unit of any programming for which the individual has not obtained authorization.
943.46(2)
(2) Prohibitions. No person may intentionally do any of the following:
943.46(2)(a)
(a) Obtain or attempt to obtain cable television service from a company by trick, artifice, deception, use of an illegal device or illegal decoder or other fraudulent means with the intent to deprive that company of any or all lawful compensation for rendering each type of service obtained. The intent required for a violation of this paragraph may be inferred from the presence on the property and in the actual possession of the defendant of a device not authorized by the cable television company, the major purpose of which is to permit reception of cable television services without payment. This inference is rebutted if the defendant demonstrates that he or she purchased that device for a legitimate use.
943.46(2)(b)
(b) Give technical assistance or instruction to any person in obtaining or attempting to obtain any cable television service without payment of all lawful compensation to the company providing that service. This paragraph does not apply if the defendant demonstrates that the technical assistance or instruction was given or the installation of the connection, descrambler or receiving device was for a legitimate use.
943.46(2)(c)
(c) Make or maintain a connection, whether physical, electrical, mechanical, acoustical or by other means, with any cables, wires, components or other devices used for the distribution of cable television services for the purpose of distributing cable television service to any other dwelling unit without authority from a cable television company.
943.46(2)(d)
(d) Make or maintain a connection, whether physical, electrical, mechanical, acoustical or by other means, with any cables, wires, components or other devices used for the distribution of cable television services for the purpose of obtaining cable television service without payment of all lawful compensation to the company providing that service. The intent required for a violation of this paragraph may be inferred from proof that the cable service to the defendant's residence or business was connected under a service agreement with the defendant and has been disconnected by the cable television company and that thereafter there exists in fact a connection to the cable system at the defendant's residence or business.
943.46(2)(e)
(e) Make or maintain any modification or alteration to any device installed with the authorization of a cable television company for the purpose of intercepting or receiving any program or other service carried by that company which that person is not authorized by that company to receive. The intent required for a violation of this paragraph may be inferred from proof that, as a matter of standard procedure, the cable television company places written warning labels on its converters or decoders explaining that tampering with the device is a violation of law and the converter or decoder is found to have been tampered with, altered or modified so as to allow the reception or interception of programming carried by the cable television company without authority to do so. The trier of fact may also infer that a converter or decoder has been altered or modified from proof that the cable television company, as a matter of standard procedure, seals the converters or decoders with a label or mechanical device, that the seal was shown to the customer upon delivery of the decoder and that the seal has been removed or broken. The inferences under this paragraph are rebutted if the cable television company cannot demonstrate that the intact seal was shown to the customer.
943.46(2)(f)
(f) Possess without authority any device or printed circuit board designed to receive from a cable television system any cable television programming or services offered for sale over that cable television system, whether or not the programming or services are encoded, filtered, scrambled or otherwise made unintelligible, or perform or facilitate the performance of any of the acts under
pars. (a) to
(e) with the intent that that device or printed circuit be used to receive that cable television company's services without payment. Intent to violate this paragraph for direct or indirect commercial advantage or private financial gain may be inferred from proof of the existence on the property and in the actual possession of the defendant of a device if the totality of circumstances, including quantities or volumes, indicates possession for resale.
943.46(2)(g)
(g) Manufacture, import into this state, distribute, publish, advertise, sell, lease or offer for sale or lease any device, printed circuit board or any plan or kit for a device or for a printed circuit designed to receive the cable television programming or services offered for sale over a cable television system from a cable television system, whether or not the programming or services are encoded, filtered, scrambled or otherwise made unintelligible, with the intent that that device, printed circuit, plan or kit be used for the reception of that company's services without payment. The intent required for a violation of this paragraph may be inferred from proof that the defendant has sold, leased or offered for sale or lease any device, printed circuit board, plan or kit for a device or for a printed circuit board in violation of this paragraph and during the course of the transaction for sale or lease the defendant expressly states or implies to the buyer that the product will enable the buyer to obtain cable television service without charge.
943.46(4)
(4) Penalties. The following penalties apply for violations of this section:
943.46(4)(b)
(b) Except as provided in
pars. (c) and
(d), any person who violates
sub. (2) (a) to
(f) as a 2nd or subsequent offense is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
943.46(4)(c)
(c) Except as provided in
par. (d), any person who violates
sub. (2) (a) to
(g) for direct or indirect commercial advantage or private financial gain is guilty of a Class E felony.
943.46(4)(d)
(d) Any person who violates
sub. (2) (a) to
(g) for direct or indirect commercial advantage or private financial gain as a 2nd or subsequent offense is guilty of a Class D felony.
943.46(5)
(5) Exception. This section does not affect the use by a person of cable television services if the services have been paid for and the use is exclusive to the person's dwelling unit. This subsection does not prohibit a board or council of any city, village or town from specifying the number and manner of installation of outlets used by any such person for cable television services and does not prohibit a cable television company, in any written contract with a subscriber, from requiring the company's approval for any increase in the number of those outlets used.
943.46 History
History: 1987 a. 345;
1993 a. 496.
943.47
943.47
Theft of satellite cable programming. 943.47(1)(a)
(a) "Encrypt", when used with respect to satellite cable programming, means to transmit that programming in a form whereby the aural or visual characteristics or both are altered to prevent the unauthorized reception of that programming by persons without authorized equipment which is designed to eliminate the effects of that alteration.
943.47(1)(b)
(b) "Satellite cable programming" means encrypted video programming which is transmitted via satellite for direct reception by satellite dish owners for a fee.
943.47(2)
(2) Prohibitions. No person may decode encrypted satellite cable programming without authority.
943.47(3)
(3) Criminal penalties. The following penalties apply for violations of this section:
943.47(3)(a)
(a) Except as provided in
pars. (b) to
(d), any person who intentionally violates
sub. (2) is subject to a Class C forfeiture.
943.47(3)(b)
(b) Except as provided in
pars. (c) and
(d), any person who violates
sub. (2) as a 2nd or subsequent offense is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
943.47(3)(c)
(c) Except as provided in
par. (d), any person who violates
sub. (2) for direct or indirect commercial advantage or private financial gain is guilty of a Class E felony.
943.47(3)(d)
(d) Any person who violates
sub. (2) for direct or indirect commercial advantage or private financial gain as a 2nd or subsequent offense is guilty of a Class D felony.
943.47(5)
(5) Exception. This section does not affect the use by a person of satellite cable programming if the programming has been paid for and the use is exclusive to the person's dwelling unit.
943.47 History
History: 1987 a. 345;
1993 a. 496.
943.48
943.48
Telecommunications; civil liability. 943.48(1m)
(1m) Except as provided in
sub. (2), if the person who incurs the loss prevails, the court shall grant the prevailing party actual damages, costs and disbursements.
943.48(2)
(2) If the person who incurs the loss prevails against a person who committed the violation wilfully and for the purpose of commercial advantage or prevails against a person who has committed more than one violation of
s. 943.45 (1),
943.455 (2),
943.46 (2) or
943.47 (2), the court shall grant the prevailing party all of the following:
943.48(2)(c)
(c) Any profits of the violator that are attributable to the violation and that are not taken into account in determining the amount of actual damages under
par. (b).
943.48(2)(d)
(d) Notwithstanding the limitations under
s. 799.25 or
814.04, costs, disbursements and reasonable attorney fees.
943.48(2g)
(2g) If the court finds that the violation was committed wilfully and for the purpose of commercial advantage, the court may increase the amount granted under
sub. (2) (a) to an amount not to exceed $50,000.
943.48(2r)
(2r) If the court finds that the violator had no reason to believe that the violator's action constituted a violation of this section, the court may reduce the amount granted under
sub. (2) (a).
943.48(3)
(3) If damages under
sub. (2) (c) are requested, the party who incurred the injury shall have the burden of proving the violator's gross revenue and the violator shall have the burden of proving the violator's deductible expenses and the elements of profit attributable to factors other than the violation.
943.48(4)
(4) In addition to other remedies available under this section, the court may grant the injured party a temporary or permanent injunction.
943.48 History
History: 1993 a. 496.
943.50(1)(a)
(a) "Merchant" includes any "merchant" as defined in
s. 402.104 (3) or any innkeeper, motelkeeper or hotelkeeper.
943.50(1)(b)1.
1. For property of the merchant, the value of the property; or
943.50(1)(b)2.
2. For merchandise held for resale, the merchant's stated price of the merchandise or, in the event of altering, transferring or removing a price marking or causing a cash register or other sales device to reflect less than the merchant's stated price, the difference between the merchant's stated price of the merchandise and the altered price.
943.50(1m)
(1m) Whoever intentionally alters indicia of price or value of merchandise or who takes and carries away, transfers, conceals or retains possession of merchandise held for resale by a merchant or property of the merchant without his or her consent and with intent to deprive the merchant permanently of possession, or the full purchase price, of the merchandise may be penalized as provided in
sub. (4).
943.50(2)
(2) The intentional concealment of unpurchased merchandise which continues from one floor to another or beyond the last station for receiving payments in a merchant's store is evidence of intent to deprive the merchant permanently of possession of such merchandise without paying the purchase price thereof. The discovery of unpurchased merchandise concealed upon the person or among the belongings of such person or concealed by a person upon the person or among the belongings of another is evidence of intentional concealment on the part of the person so concealing such goods.
943.50(3)
(3) A merchant, a merchant's adult employe or a merchant's security agent who has reasonable cause for believing that a person has violated this section in his or her presence may detain the person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time to deliver the person to a peace officer, or to his or her parent or guardian in the case of a minor. The detained person must be promptly informed of the purpose for the detention and be permitted to make phone calls, but he or she shall not be interrogated or searched against his or her will before the arrival of a peace officer who may conduct a lawful interrogation of the accused person. The merchant, merchant's adult employe or merchant's security agent may release the detained person before the arrival of a peace officer or parent or guardian. Any merchant, merchant's adult employe or merchant's security agent who acts in good faith in any act authorized under this section is immune from civil or criminal liability for those acts.
943.50(3m)(a)(a) In any action or proceeding for violation of this section, duly identified and authenticated photographs of merchandise which was the subject of the violation may be used as evidence in lieu of producing the merchandise.
943.50(3m)(b)
(b) A merchant or merchant's adult employe is privileged to defend property as prescribed in
s. 939.49.
943.50(4)
(4) Whoever violates this section is guilty of:
943.50(4)(a)
(a) A Class A misdemeanor, if the value of the merchandise does not exceed $1,000.
943.50(4)(b)
(b) A Class E felony, if the value of the merchandise exceeds $1,000 but not $2,500.
943.50(4)(c)
(c) A Class C felony, if the value of the merchandise exceeds $2,500.
943.50(5)(a)(a) In addition to the other penalties provided for violation of this section, a judge may order a violator to pay restitution under
s. 973.20.
943.50(5)(b)
(b) In actions concerning violations of ordinances in conformity with this section, a judge may order a violator to make restitution under
s. 800.093.
943.50(5)(c)
(c) If the court orders restitution under
pars. (a) and
(b), any amount of restitution paid to the victim under one of those paragraphs reduces the amount the violator must pay in restitution to that victim under the other paragraph.
943.50 Annotation
Merchant acted reasonably in detaining innocent shopper for 20 minutes and releasing her without summoning police. Johnson v. K-Mart Enterprises, Inc. 98 W (2d) 533, 297 NW (2d) 74 (Ct. App. 1980).
943.50 Annotation
"Reasonable manner" of detainment under (3) construed. Hainz v. Shopko Stores, Inc. 121 W (2d) 168, 359 NW (2d) 397 (Ct. App. 1984).
943.50 Annotation
Sub. (3) requires only that merchant's employee have probable cause to believe that person violated this section in employee's presence; actual theft need not be committed in employee's presence. State v. Lee, 157 W (2d) 126, 458 NW (2d) 562 (Ct. App. 1990).
943.50 Annotation
Shoplifting: protection for merchants in Wisconsin. 57 MLR 141.
943.51
943.51
Retail theft; civil liability. 943.51(1)
(1) Any person who incurs injury to his or her business or property as a result of a violation of
s. 943.50 may bring a civil action against any individual who caused the loss for all of the following:
943.51(1)(a)
(a) The retail value of the merchandise unless it is returned undamaged and unused. A person may recover under this paragraph only if he or she exercises due diligence in demanding the return of the merchandise immediately after he or she discovers the loss and the identity of the person who has the merchandise.
943.51(2)
(2) In addition to
sub. (1), if the person who incurs the loss prevails, the judgment in the action may grant any of the following:
943.51(2)(a)1.1. Except as provided in
subd. 1m., exemplary damages of not more than 3 times the amount under
sub. (1).
943.51(2)(a)1m.
1m. If the action is brought against a minor or against the parent who has custody of their minor child for the loss caused by the minor, the exemplary damages may not exceed 2 times the amount under
sub. (1).
943.51(2)(a)2.
2. No additional proof is required for an award of exemplary damages under this paragraph.
943.51(2)(b)
(b) Notwithstanding the limitations of
s. 799.25 or
814.04, all actual costs of the action, including reasonable attorney fees.
943.51(3)
(3) Notwithstanding
sub. (2) and except as provided in
sub. (3m), the total amount awarded for exemplary damages and reasonable attorney fees may not exceed $500.
943.51(3m)
(3m) Notwithstanding
sub. (2), the total amount awarded for exemplary damages and reasonable attorney fees may not exceed $300 if the action is brought against a minor or against the parent who has custody of their minor child for the loss caused by the minor.
943.51(3r)
(3r) Any recovery under this section shall be reduced by the amount recovered as restitution for the same act under
ss. 800.093 and
973.20.
943.51(4)
(4) The plaintiff has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a violation occurred under
s. 943.50. A conviction under
s. 943.50 is not a condition precedent to bringing an action, obtaining a judgment or collecting that judgment under this section.
943.51(5)
(5) A person is not criminally liable under
s. 943.30 for any civil action brought in good faith under this section.
943.51(6)
(6) Nothing in this section precludes a plaintiff from bringing the action under
ch. 799 if the amount claimed is within the jurisdictional limits of
s. 799.01 (1) (d).
943.51 Annotation
Employe salary for time spent processing retail theft is compensable as "actual damages" under (1) (b). Shopko Stores, Inc. v. Kujak, 147 W (2d) 589, 433 NW (2d) 618 (Ct. App. 1988).
