U.S Antispyware Bill passes 2007

[greek39]

Finally passed the U.S Antispyware Bill also know as "Internet Spyware Prevention Act." The unauthorized collection of personal information via download, sharing is now illegal.

Washington DC, USA -- May 23, 2007 -- The US House of Representatives has approved legislation to combat the criminal use of Internet spyware and other scams aimed at stealing personal information from computer users.

Citing estimates that up to 90% of computers in the US are infected with some form of spyware, lawmakers argued that spyware "is one of the biggest threats to consumers on the Internet." The bill has been written so that it "protects consumers by imposing stiff penalties on the truly bad actors" while protecting legitimate online businesses that are developing new services to keep track of user preferences.

The measure approves $10 million a year over the next four years to help the Justice Department fight other computer scams such as "phishing," the use of fake emails or Websites to trick consumers into providing bank account numbers or credit card or other personal information, and "pharming," in which hackers redirect Internet traffic to fake sites to steal personal information.

The bill would make it a criminal offense, subject to a prison term of up to five years, to gain unauthorized access to a computer to help carry out another federal offense. Obtaining or transmitting personal information with the intent of injuring or defrauding a person or damaging a computer would be punishable by up to two years in prison.
sources: http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?id=7367&cid=
http://videos.webpronews.com:80/2007...ispyware-bill/

Spyware is obviously not a good thing. Personal data sharing between software providers unless otherwise authorized could now be a crime.

Something to think about considering 888 software is riddled with spyware. Plus the on going battle of morally deficient people who continue to sell private personal information databases.

greek39

[Spearmaster]

It still needs to pass the Senate. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near law yet.

[greek39]

Not all that familiar U.S Governmental structure. I naturally assume “has approved legislation” to mean there is now a law in place to combat spyware. I believe our favourite person Goodlatte introduced the Bill on May 23, 2007 according to this source.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2...ware-bill.html

If not Law as of yet I certainly hope it doesn’t take too much longer. Thanks Spearmaster for the correction.

greek39

[vinism]

Harkening back to my old days of where I used to cover the U.S. House and Senate, here's a quick primer on the U.S. legislative process:

In order for a piece of legislation to become law, it must:

First be introduced as a bill, either in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

After the House or Senate approves the bill, it moves to the other chamber where it must be introduced and passed. So in the case of the Spyware bill, now that it has passed the House, it must be introduced and passed in the Senate.

Once a bill is passed by both houses, it then goes into conference -- because neither the House or Senate pass identical versions of the same bill. A group of Senators and Congressman negotiate to create a final bill that is eventually approved and sent to the president.

The president then has the option to sign the bill into law or veto it. If the president vetoes the bill, Congress has the option to override the veto. It takes a two-thirds vote by both the Senate and the House to override the veto.

And in case you're wondering what the difference between the House and the Senate is, House members have two year terms, and every seat in the House is up for re-election every two years. The Senate has six year terms. And 1/3 of those seats are up for re-election every two years.

Hope this answers any questions.

[greek39]

Thank you vinism for putting this process in a more understandable light. In Canada when things are legislated it is law. Sorry for the error on my part.

But anyway the bill has been reintroduced again, perhaps a story worth following?

Thanks

greek39

[rob3786]

Will be great when that becomes set in practice!

[vinism]

It's absolutely a story worth following Greek. Especially because this can have an effect on the way plenty of people on the fringes of several industries do business. The key will be if the Senate takes up the matter. With a rash of data breaches recently, there's a much better chance now than there was in the past.

[big fish]

thanks for the heads up greek39 and for clarifying the process vinism. i often get confused as to when it becomes a law or what stage it is at in the process so this information is quite helpful.

[onestopgamblingguide]

yeah it's definitely a long process in the US, but if passed I say wahoooooooo