FW: House Toughens Spyware Penalties

Fri Oct 8 21:07:26 UTC 2004

"The bill also permits computer software providers to
interact with a user's computer without notice and
consent in order to determine whether the computer
user is authorized to use the software upon
initialization of the software or an update of the
software."

I find this aspect of the Bill objectionable, since it
contradicts other laws, which make it illegal to break
into a computer. There is also no guarantee that
the person doing the snooping is above criminal intent
and would create an operational nightmare for 
most prudent ISP/NSP organizations.

-Henry

--- Nicole <nmh at daemontech.com> wrote:

> 
> 
>  It all reads ok until the latter part... shudder...
> 
>   Nicole
> 
> 
> -----FW:
> <200410081600530249.000E013B at mail.themezz.com>-----
> 
> Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 16:00:53 -0400
> Sender: cybercrime-alerts-bounce at freelists.org
> From: cybercrime-alerts <alerts at theMezz.com>
> To: cybercrime-alerts at freelists.org
> Subject: House Toughens Spyware Penalties
> 
> October 8, 2004 
> House Toughens Spyware Penalties 
> 
>
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3419211
> 
> For the second time in three days, the U.S. House of
> Representatives has passed
> an anti-spyware bill, this time adding criminal
> penalties to tough civil
> provisions of legislation passed on Tuesday. 
> 
> The Internet Spyware Prevention Act of 2004 (H.R.
> 4661), which passed on a
> 415-0 vote Thursday, makes it a crime to
> intentionally access a computer
> without authorization or to intentionally exceed
> authorized access. If the
> unauthorized intrusion is to further another federal
> crime such as secretly
> accessing personal data, the penalty is up to five
> years in prison. 
> 
> Deliberately injuring or defrauding a person or
> damaging a computer through the
> unauthorized installation of spyware carry prison
> terms of up to two years. The
> legislation also authorizes $10 million for the
> Department of Justice to combat
> spyware and phishing (define) scams, although the
> bill does not specifically
> make phishing a crime. 
> 
> "By imposing criminal penalties on these bad actors,
> this legislation will help
> deter the use of spyware, and will thus help protect
> consumers from these
> aggressive attacks," Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the
> bill's author, said in a
> statement. "At the same time, the legislation leaves
> the door open for
> innovative technology developments to continue to
> combat spyware programs." 
> 
> Tuesday night, the House passed legislation
> prohibiting unfair or deceptive
> practices related to spyware. The bill, known as the
> Spy Act (H.R. 2929), also
> requires an opt-in notice and consent form for legal
> software that collects
> personally identifiable information from consumers.
> The penalties in H.R. 2929
> are limited to civil fines of up to $3 million. 
> 
> Both bills now go the Senate, which has pending
> legislation similar to the
> House bills. House Energy and Commerce Committee
> Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas)
> said earlier this week he thought the two chambers
> could agree on a spyware
> bill before lawmakers adjourn on Friday or Saturday.
> 
> 
> "[We've] seen several egregious examples of spyware
> being used in ways that
> most Americans would think clearly ought to be
> criminal," Ari Schwartz,
> associate director of the Center for Democracy and
> Technology, said in another
> statement. "The bill will help make sure there are
> strong deterrents to using
> spyware to defraud or injure consumers." 
> 
> The two House bills are supported by a broad array
> of trade groups, including
> the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business
> Software Alliance (BSA). "This
> anti-spyware legislation ensures that criminal
> penalties are imposed upon those
> persons who aim to harm innocent Internet users via
> spyware applications," said
> Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the BSA. 
> 
> Dell (Quote, Chart), eBay (Quote, Chart)>, Microsoft
> (Quote, Chart), Time
> Warner (Quote, Chart), Yahoo (Quote, Chart) and
> Earthlink (Quote, Chart)
> endorsed the Tuesday legislation. They did so after
> exemptions were added to
> the bill for network monitoring for security
> purposes, technical support or
> repair, or the detection or prevention of fraudulent
> activities. 
> 
> The bill also permits computer software providers to
> interact with a user's
> computer without notice and consent in order to
> determine whether the computer
> user is authorized to use the software upon
> initialization of the software or
> an update of the software. 
> 
> "Every day thousands of unsuspecting Americans have
> their identities hijacked
> by a new breed of cyber criminals because of
> spyware. People whose identities
> have been stolen can spend months or years -- and
> much of their hard-earned
> money -- trying to restore their good name and
> credit record. This legislation
> will help prevent bad things from happening to good
> names," Rep. Lamar Smith
> (R-Texas) said. 
> 
> 
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> 
> --------------End of forwarded
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