Section 29: Breach of confidence by service providers

1 A person or organization who, being a computer based service provider or vendor, does any act with intent to defraud and by virtue of his position as a service provider, forges, illegally used security codes of the consumer with the intent to gain any financial or material advantage or with intent to provide less value for money in his or its services to the consumer, if corporate organization, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of =N5,000,000.00 and forfeiture of further equivalent of the monetary value of the loss sustained by the consumer.

2 Where an offence under this Act which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed on the instigation or with the connivance of, or attributable to, any neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any officer purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, where practicable, are deemed to be guilty of that offence and are liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

3 Where a body corporate is convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may order that the body corporate shall, thereupon and without any further assurances, but for such order, be wound up and all its assets and property be forfeited to the Federal Government.

4 If the offender is a natural person, he commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not more than 7 years and to a fine of not more than =N5,000,000.00 or both.

5 Nothing contained in this section shall render any person liable to any punishment, where he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.