WASHINGTON -- The powerful House Commerce Committee on Wednesday made anti-spyware legislation a top priority, with members hoping to vote it out of committee in the next two to three weeks.
"This is on the fast track, and we hope to be marking this bill up in the very near future," said committee chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas).
The committee devoted its first hearing of the new session to exploring anti-spyware bill HR29, or the Spy Act. The bill is expected to garner wide support in the House because it's basically a reintroduction of the former HR2929, which passed the House by a 399-1 vote in the last session.
As with HR2929, HR29 is sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono (R-California).
The bill aims to prevent spyware purveyors from hijacking a homepage or tracking users' keystrokes. It also requires that spyware programs be easily identifiable and removable, and allows for the collection of personal information only after express consent from users. The bill exponentially increases fines against abusers as well, authorizing the Federal Trade Commission to fine violators up to $3 million per infraction.
HR29's significantly lower bill number this session "shows you how the priority has shifted" among lawmakers increasingly alarmed and irritated by the prevalence of spyware throughout cyberspace, Barton said.
Several at Wednesday's hearings recounted spyware horror stories involving family members, with Barton commenting that he was forced to buy a new computer for his daughter after spyware clogged its operating system beyond repair.
Although Barton predicted a committee vote within three weeks, anti-spyware legislation may have a tougher road in the Senate, which, unlike the House, failed to pass anti-spyware legislation last year.
At Wednesday's hearing, several witnesses and lawmakers also said they were concerned that the bill would define spyware too broadly. "We don't want to necessarily stop those third-party cookies from working," said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Florida), chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Other concerns include enforcement. Ari Schwartz, associate director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the FTC needs more resources to nab violators.
"Raising the penalties gives them more power, but it won't be effective if they can't use it," he said.
Several lawmakers, meanwhile, said any spyware bill should also include criminal penalties. But criminal jurisdiction falls to the House Judiciary Committee, which in the last session passed anti-spyware bill HR4661, sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia). That bill, which included criminal penalties, later passed the full House by a 415-0 vote.
On Wednesday, a spokeswoman in Goodlatte's office told Wired News that he plans to reintroduce the bill this session, but she couldn't give a timetable.
