Law / United States / 
Montana
Montana Unlawful Use of a Computer, without consent of the owner
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since 1 October 1981.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 29 August 2026.
What it requires
- Do not obtain use or access of a Montana-connected computer system without the owner's consent; this statute is graded by dollar value of property affected, so its penalty structure is built around measurable loss rather than mere unwanted access.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Under Title 45 (Crimes), Chapter 6 (Offenses Against Property), Part 3 (Theft and Related Offenses), a person commits the offense of unlawful use of a computer when, knowingly or purposely and without authorization, they obtain the use or access of any computer, computer system, or computer network without consent of the owner, among other prohibited acts such as destroying or rendering data inoperable, introducing a computer contaminant, or misusing another person's credentials to track their movements or monitor communications without consent.
The offense is framed and graded as a property crime, with penalties tied to the dollar value of property affected, so a scraper causing no measurable loss sits awkwardly within the statute's own penalty structure even where the access element is otherwise met. No reported Montana case applies this section to scraping or public-page access.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_web
Read the law
official text, Montana Code Annotated (mca.legmt.gov)
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.