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Regulatory or Legal Changes Top 2
Cable Theft and Vandalism Federal Prohibition
Makes it a federal crime to willfully injure, destroy, or steal copper, fiber, or coaxial cables used for telecommunications or internet services that cross state lines, expanding existing communication-infrastructure vandalism law to cover theft.
- Population Scope Low Directly affects would-be cable thieves and vandals — a narrow population — plus telecommunications providers whose infrastructure is targeted, well under 10% of the U.S. population.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are authorized, appropriated, or obligated by this prohibition.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new federal criminal offense — cable theft added to existing vandalism law — imposing a binding statutory prohibition with up to 10-year imprisonment, a substantive change to the criminal code.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The offense is defined by mandatory statutory elements with no delegated rulemaking authority or prosecutorial discretion built into the text.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Adds a new category of federal criminal case requiring investigation, prosecution, and incarceration capacity, expanding the recurring adjudicative workload for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and federal courts.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal or modify it.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 2
Customer Premises Equipment Exemption
Exempts customer-owned, rented, or leased equipment physically located on a customer's property from the new federal cable-theft and vandalism prohibition, so the criminal law does not apply to a customer's own on-site cables.
- Population Scope Low Affects only the narrow subset of customers who own, rent, or lease telecommunications equipment on their own premises and would otherwise face criminal exposure under the new prohibition.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are authorized, appropriated, or obligated by this exemption.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Creates a statutory carve-out from a new criminal prohibition, constraining the reach of the substantive offense rather than creating a new duty or right — a procedural boundary on an otherwise binding mandate.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The exemption is categorical and self-executing, leaving no agency discretion in its application.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Reduces rather than adds enforcement burden by narrowing the class of conduct subject to prosecution.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
No possible riders have been surfaced for this bill.
Summary
This bill makes it a federal crime to steal, damage, or destroy copper, fiber, or coaxial cables used to deliver telecommunications or internet services across state lines. It updates an existing law that already covers damage to communication systems, adding theft as a covered offense and specifying these cable types. Violations can result in up to ten years in prison. Equipment owned, rented, or leased by customers on their own property is excluded from the new rule.
AI-generated summary, pending human review.
| Version | Event | Date | User support | Your vote | Roll calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original |
Initial publication
Sep 30, 2026
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Sep 30, 2026 | No votes yet | — | — |
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Regulatory or Legal Changes Top 2
Cable Theft and Vandalism Federal Prohibition
Makes it a federal crime to willfully injure, destroy, or steal copper, fiber, or coaxial cables used for telecommunications or internet services that cross state lines, expanding existing communication-infrastructure vandalism law to cover theft.
- Population Scope Low Directly affects would-be cable thieves and vandals — a narrow population — plus telecommunications providers whose infrastructure is targeted, well under 10% of the U.S. population.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are authorized, appropriated, or obligated by this prohibition.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new federal criminal offense — cable theft added to existing vandalism law — imposing a binding statutory prohibition with up to 10-year imprisonment, a substantive change to the criminal code.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The offense is defined by mandatory statutory elements with no delegated rulemaking authority or prosecutorial discretion built into the text.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Adds a new category of federal criminal case requiring investigation, prosecution, and incarceration capacity, expanding the recurring adjudicative workload for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and federal courts.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal or modify it.
No signal yet
Regulatory or Legal Changes
Cable Theft and Vandalism Federal Prohibition
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 2
Customer Premises Equipment Exemption
Exempts customer-owned, rented, or leased equipment physically located on a customer's property from the new federal cable-theft and vandalism prohibition, so the criminal law does not apply to a customer's own on-site cables.
- Population Scope Low Affects only the narrow subset of customers who own, rent, or lease telecommunications equipment on their own premises and would otherwise face criminal exposure under the new prohibition.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are authorized, appropriated, or obligated by this exemption.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Creates a statutory carve-out from a new criminal prohibition, constraining the reach of the substantive offense rather than creating a new duty or right — a procedural boundary on an otherwise binding mandate.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The exemption is categorical and self-executing, leaving no agency discretion in its application.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Reduces rather than adds enforcement burden by narrowing the class of conduct subject to prosecution.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Customer Premises Equipment Exemption
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