Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Anti-Spyware Bill up for Vote in Congress

Posted by samzenpus on from the but-I-love-ads dept.

paul_friedman writes "According to Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives will vote as soon as next week on a measure to crack down on deceptive "spyware" that hides in users' computers and secretly monitors their activities."

4 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Finally! by Jaycatt · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I was just doing a training for my coworkers about what spyware is/does. No one had ever heard of it, and didn't know they should be scanning their PCs. I remember telling them that I hoped it would be the next "big thing" they'd start passing laws about (like they did with viruses and spam). Glad to see that hope may come true!

    It'd really be nice to see this issue talked about in the more mainstream press, so that it gets a negative following like spam has. Might not solve it, but at least people will know it exists.

    --
    "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased. Thus we refute entropy" - Spider Robinson
  2. Hmm... by queenofthe1ring · · Score: 5, Interesting
    It will be combined with another bill, passed by the Judiciary Committee (news - web sites), that would establish criminal penalties for those who use spyware to commit identity theft or other crimes.

    So now it's going to be a crime to commit a crime?

    --

    ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

    yes, girls read /. too...

  3. Re:Nothing can be done by frankthechicken · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Exactly the number of people who want to have weatherbug on their PC, the number of people who purposely download and install Claria products is ridiculous.

    People want these things because it gives them cool things, they don't care what happens in the background.

    I personally equate it to smoking, without the risks of using the product being fully known about or appreciated.

    Perhaps the preventative measures taken against such adware products should be similar to smoking. Large, prominent notices being required, detailing the risks of using the software, perhaps higher taxes on companies deemed to be adware firms.

    Unfortunately the ability to label such problematic software is, well, problematic.

  4. Wouldn't it make more sense... by Sentry21 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't it make more sense to create an agency (in the manner of the FCC or CRTC) with the mandate to regulate these types of activities? That one agency, given the ability to pass regulations as the FCC has, would be able to regulate things like SPAM, Spyware, and other interests (viruses perhaps?). They could impose fines for companies that write programs to do this kind of work, publish lists of software banned under the regulations, and so forth.

    Just like the acts that created the CRTC and the FCC, it would be a simple matter for Congress to say 'there is a problem, you guys handle it', rather than having to learn the full issue every time something needs to be done.

    --Dan