Technology

SB 154 adds Article 12 to Maryland's Uniform Commercial Code to establish rules for property rights in certain digital assets, including controllable electronic records, accounts, and payment intangibles. It directly affects businesses and financial institutions handling digital transactions by defining how control and ownership transfer for these assets. The bill creates a new standard for "control" (requiring exclusive power to access benefits and transfer the asset) and ensures qualifying purchasers acquire rights free of competing claims. This changes how digital property rights are managed under Maryland law, replacing ambiguous state rules with a clear, standardized framework.

HB 21, the Child Influencers Protection Act, requires vloggers who feature minors in their social media content to compensate those children when the content generates at least $100 in earnings (10 cents per view) over a 12-month period. Vloggers must pay 10% of the gross earnings from child-inclusive content into separate trusts for each child, which will be released when the child turns 18. The bill also grants minors the right to request permanent deletion of their featured content from social media platforms starting October 1, 2026. These provisions apply to vloggers who monetize content featuring minors, directly affecting both the vloggers and the children featured in their videos.

HB 593 amends Maryland's criminal law to specifically prohibit unauthorized actions intended to disrupt critical infrastructure or public safety answering points. It makes it a crime to intentionally access, copy data from, or possess access codes for systems like power grids, emergency call centers, or transportation networks with the intent to impair their function. The bill defines "critical infrastructure" as systems vital to public security, health, safety, or utilities, and explicitly includes ransomware attacks as a prohibited act. This law directly affects individuals who interfere with these essential systems, imposing criminal penalties for intentional disruption.