The U.S. House on Tuesday passed legislation to crack down on the fraudulent use of spyware, setting a five year sentence for anyone caught using the subversive software "in furtherance" of a federal criminal offense. Under the legislation (.pdf), called the Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention Act and sponsored by Silicon Valley Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California), scam artists using spyware to steal SSNs, credit card numbers, passwords or any personal identification info could face new charges. So could hoods using spyware to "impair" a computer's security system while trying to defraud another person.
But the I-SPY Act does not allow the government to regulate software companies. Some lawmakers wanted to force software manufacturers to get consent before uploading programs onto the computers of unsuspecting internet users. Lofgren argued that that approach would unfairly burden tech innovation.
Photo: Q Branch
