House taunts Senate with anti-spyware bill
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Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? The US House of Representatives has passed an anti-spyware bill, but the measure must be passed by the Senate before it becomes law. The Senate does not currently have anti-spyware legislation in front of it.â¦
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The Federal Trade Commission won an important victory last week in its fight to protect consumers from spyware, the software that tracks unsuspecting Web surfers, bombards them with advertisements and sometimes even steal login information and passwords.
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(InfoWorld) - When the U.S. Congress adjourned in the early morning hours Saturday, it left a number of technology-related bills unfinished, including two bills addressingÂ fraudulent access to personal telephone records. Despite pressure from members of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, the full House failed to act on the Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act. The law would have allowed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to seek civil penalties against businesses that obtain personal data under false pretenses. The committee has been looking into privacy concerns related to so-called pretexting since early this year, but the issue came to a head last month, whenÂ Hewlett-Packard revealedÂ it had used questionable investigative techniques in the surveillance of board members, employees, and reporters. With pretexting, private investigators or identity thieves pretend to be customers of mobile phone carriers or other companies in order to gain access to personal records such as call logs. Congress still has more time to act on the pretexting legislation or six related bills this year, however. After a month-plus break allowing lawmakers to focus on the Nov. 7 election, Congress will return for a lame-duck session Nov. 9. Democrats last week complained that the House Republican leadership had held up the pretexting legislation, but Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and Energy and Commerce chairman, said he'd continue to push for the legislation. Congress alsoÂ failed to pass a wide-ranging broadband billÂ that would replace local franchise rules with a national system for telecom providers launching Internet Protocol-based television services in competition with cable TV. And although U.S. President George Bush called on Congress to pass legislation authorizing a controversial National Security Agency (NSA)Â surveillance program, two bills making it easier for the government to conduct surveillance without court-ordered warrants also stalled. One piece of Internet-related legislation did pass early Saturday. The Senate passed a bill providing money for seaport security, and added to the bill was a provision prohibiting U.S. banks and credit-card companies from processing payments to online gambling sites. A group of professional poker players had asked Congress to reject the bill, but a group of House Republicans pushed for the legislation, saying offshore gambling sites were breaking U.S. gambling-control laws. Bush had called for legislation to authorize the NSA program, which has listened in on the electronic communications of U.S. residents without court-ordered warrants, as a way to head off multiple lawsuits targeting the program. He has argued the program is necessary to help keep U.S. residents safe from terrorism. The HouseÂ passed one surveillance bill, but the Senate failed to act. The House bill would allow federal law enforcement officials to spy on U.S. residents for up to 90 days without a court order in the period after a terrorist attack. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a civil liberties and privacy advocacy group, said it was happy to see the surveillance and broadband bills stall. Republicans supporting the surveillance bill were pushing it as a way to show they were focused on national security during the last weeks of the congressional campaign, said Nancy Libin, a staff counsel at CDT. "Now that they've gone home, I'm not sure what kind of priority it will be when they come back," she said. Several civil liberties groups had opposed the broadband bill as it lacked protections for so-called net neutrality. Net neutrality advocates want a law that would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or slowing service to Web sites offering competing content, and they have successfully halted the Senate version of the broadband bill, despiteÂ heavy lobbying from large broadband providers.
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Two bills designed to curb the proliferation of Internet &quot;spyware&quot; took another step toward law this week with overwhelming approval from the House of Representatives, but supporters said
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The US House of Representatives passed a second spyware bill on Thursday adding more teeth to a previously passed spyware bill that included fines for offenders.
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U.S. House of Representatives  Republican leaders pushed ahead on Thursday with plans to pass  their version of a spy agency overhaul despite warnings that  controversial immigration provisions could snarl the bill in a  showdown with the Senate.
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California's pioneering law aimed at cracking down on spyware -- signed this week to curb the software that hides on computers and secretly follows users around the Web -- is only a partial step toward protecting consumers, critics said on Friday.
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The House on Thursday passed the second bill in three days that would outlaw "spyware," irritating software that quietly monitors the activities of Internet users.
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(InfoWorld) - An antispyware bill that the U.S. House of Representatives passed this week earned praise from cybersecurity groups, but faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The bill, which would create penalties of up to five years in prison for some spyware-like behavior, is a "needed piece of legislation in order to protect consumers," said Kevin Richards, federal government relations manager for Symantec Corp. Many online identity theft schemes start with spyware on a victim's computer, he said. Though versions of the Internet Spyware Prevention Act (I-SPY) have passed through the House in the last two sessions of Congress, they stalled in the Senate. The House passed I-SPY and a second spyware bill in May 2005. But the Senate failed to act, partly because of concerns that the second proposal, called the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act or SPY Act, too broadly defined spyware. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee also became hung up on what approach to take for a spyware bill -- a criminal penalties approach similar to I-SPY or a broader approach attempting to define spyware technologies similar to the second House bill. Concerns over the SPY Act remain. Last month, theÂ Electronic Frontier Foundation issued an alert about the SPY Act, saying it opposes the bill because it would preempt tougher state laws against spyware and hacking. "In fact, having been massaged by lobbyists for the software and adware industries, the bill would actually make things worse, insulating adware vendors from more stringent state laws and private lawsuits," wrote EFF lawyer Fred von Lohmann. Any bills that have not passed through the House and Senate during their two-year session must be reintroduced. This year the SPY Act has been approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee but has not faced a vote on the House floor. On the other hand,Â there seems to be less opposition to I-SPY. I-SPY has "broad support from the industry," said Geoff Gray, legislative consultant for the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, a trade group. "It concentrates on bad actions as opposed to bad technologies." I-SPY now goes to the Senate for consideration. Two champions of antispyware legislation in the Senate, Republicans George Allen of Virginia and Conrad Burns of Montana, were defeated in last November's elections. Meanwhile, supporters of the I-SPY Act say they will push for passage in the Senate. Symantec is engaging senators about the need for a spyware bill and other cybersecurity measures, Richards said. Several senators seem open to cybersecurity legislation, he said. "I think there's interest there," he said. "But senators are focused on a big plate of issues." Although Burns and Allen are gone, I-SPY has a "decent" chance of passing the Senate, added Gray. The House may have given it a better shot by not passing the more controversial SPY Act at the same time, he said. "A little steam has gone out of it on the Senate side, but maybe some of the conflict as well," Gray said. A spokesman for Representative Zoe Lofgren, one of the primary sponsors of I-SPY, said it's early to gauge the bill's chances in the Senate. The California Democrat will begin pushing for the bill in the Senate soon, the spokesman said. Representatives of tech-focused senators said their bosses are looking at antispyware legislation. "It's one of our priorities," said a spokesman for Senator John Ensign, a Nevada Republican and cosponsor of an antispyware bill in the last session of Congress. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, is also looking into the issue, a spokeswoman said. Wyden, cosponsor of the broader antispyware bill in the Senate last Congress, is "looking into what he feels the correct course should be legislatively ... based on the way the spyware issue has evolved over the last two years," said spokeswoman Melissa Merz.
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WASHINGTON - Spyware legislation that would allow fines of up to $3 million for makers of software that steals personal information from a user's computer or highjacks its browser will get a second look after the U.S. Congress failed to pass the legislation in 2004.
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Internet Spyware Prevention Act has passed the House, but will face a tougher test in the Senate.
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The House approved the surveillance measure after rejecting efforts by Democrats and some Republicans to impose greater restrictions on the wiretapping authority.
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The Senate votes 68-29 to give amnesty to telephone and internet companies being sued for helping the government spy on Americans without warrants. The bill also largely legalizes future NSA domestic spying. The House must agree before the bill becomes law.
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Anti-Spyware Bill Passed by House  Legislation prohibiting spyware practices was passed Tuesday by the United States House of Representatives in a 399-1 vote. Termed the Spy Act, this bill not only prevents all things associated with spyware, but it also requires that opt-ins, notices and consents accompany any legal software that ...
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The House of Representatives passed  a bill on Thursday that would provide congressional  authorization for President George W. Bush's warrantless  domestic spying program but subject it to new rules.
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Leading security software vendor PC Tools is pleased to see House  passage of the Internet Spyware (I-Spy) Prevention Act of 2007,  providing the justice system with greater power and resources to  prosecute cyber criminals. "We need to give these criminals more than a  slap on the wrist.
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Anti-spyware legislation that prohibits companies from installing software on a computer without user consent has been approved by the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Dubbed the Spy Block Act, the bill now moves to the full Senate where it will likely be voted on before the end of the year. The Spy Block Act requires software to provide an uninstall option, as well as outlaws any software that transmits user information without explicit approval.