US Congress Tackles Internet Miscreants

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

13 September 2004

The US House of Representatives is currently taking a keen interest in misbehaviour on the internet, with two bills, The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004 and The Internet Spyware Prevention Act of 2004, awaiting full House votes after approval in committee.

Last Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved legislation aimed partly at peer-to-peer networks. The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act would criminalize some acts of copyright infringement, specifically targeting the electronic distribution of copyrighted material "with reckless disregard for the risk of further infringement." The electronic distribution of 1,000 or more copyrighted works over a 180-day period would attract up to a 3-year gaol term.

The Committee also approved criminal penalties for the surreptitious use of spyware under The Internet Spyware Prevention Act, which would make 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.

Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said: "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. At the same time, the legislation leaves the door open for innovative technology developments to continue to combat spyware programs."

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has already passed a spyware bill including provisions to prohibit unfair or deceptive behavior such as keystroke logging, computer hijacking and the display of advertisements that can't be closed. The bill requires anyone who is not the owner or authorized user of a computer to provide an opt-in screen prior to transmitting or enabling any information collection program. A similar bill is also making its way through the Senate.

The two House spyware bills will be reconciled before a final version is presented to the full House.

Although many IT firms welcome the interest of Congress in 'cleaning-up' the Internet, some commentators - including the Federal Trade Commission - think that legislation is likely to be ineffective. The Can Spam Act has come into force, but spam continues to mount both in the US and internationally. On the Internet, the originators of spyware, phishing scams, spam and viruses can be anywhere, or indeed nowhere at all. How can legislation stop them? Technology, says the FTC, is a better bet and will eventually be more successful at controlling these sicknesses of the Internet than any amount of do-gooding by politicians. But trying to stop politicians from doing good is even harder than stopping spammers spamming.

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