NYS Senator Suggests Criminalizing Spyware

putch writes "New York State Senator Michael Balboni has introduced legislation to make the dissemination of spyware a criminal act. You can read the full bill text here. Is this a good thing? It defines spyware as software that transmits personal information or computer usage data without obtaining explicit approval from the user. It would seem to me (IANAL) that it would be quite unenforceable, but may send the right message to spyware outfits. Also interesting is that it requires any 'legitimate' spyware to disclose any bandwidth it may consume and requires the disclosure to be in bits per second." The bill is quite short and readable. (This might remind you of the recently introduced anti-spyware bill in the U.S. Senate.)

Comments

Computer Crime Double Standard

[Featureless]

What if I sneak into a Big Company's computers without their knowledge, using a hacking tool masquerading as a harmless program, or perhaps piggy-backing on a "legitimate" application, and then hide there, secretly reporting traffic and even keystrokes back to a central server? Let alone if I do it sloppily, slowing them down, crashing them, popping up distracting windows all the time?

I think I'd go to prison, don't you?

Why, I think there are some laws against doing that.

Now, switch Big Company with some anonymous little guy. And we debate about whether or not it should even be specifically against the law... Hah.