Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

House To Enact Anti-Spyware Law

Posted by Zonk on from the but-bonzer-buddy-wants-to-be-your-friend! dept.

Stephen Samuel wrote to mention that the U.S. House of Representatives has readied the aptly acronymed Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (SPY ACT) for law. MS-BS has an article claiming that the bill allows a loophole for the makers of proprietary software. The issue at hand concerns Section 5, paragraph b, subsection 2, under the heading of limitations. The law does not apply to: "(2) a discrete interaction with a protected computer by a provider of computer software solely to determine whether the user of the computer is authorized to use such software, that occurs upon (A) initialization of the software; or (B) an affirmative request by the owner or authorized user for an update of, addition to, or technical service for, the software." The law, then, would disallow Gator and their ilk but would not hamper Microsoft's Genuine Advantage Program. More complete commentary is available at TechReview and About.com.

4 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. And, thanks to this... by Zangief · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Spyware will be "legal", just like the CAN-SPAM act...

    Thank you for your stupid technology laws, American Congress!

  2. Securely Protect Yourself by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Securely Protect Yourself is the name of the game here. This law won't do anything to actually stop spyware, as it will probably only affect companies run out of the US. In case they haven't figured it out yet, the Internet is global. The best solution is to just protect yourself by learning basic computer skills such as don't install everything you see and use browsers that don't allow arbitrary code with full system access to be run on your computer.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  3. Hmm... by deemaunik · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not sure, but in previous bills that were being introduced, the term "Protected Computer" meant any system under the control of a financial institution. It had nothing to do with the general users of the public.

  4. Re:hmmmm by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So if a girl signs a contract that says she has to be somebody's slave or engage in prostitution, is that contract legally valid?

    No, if a law makes something illegal, any contract endorsing such unlawful behavior, becomes automatically void.