If You Can't Can Spam, Go After Spyware

CNN.com - Bill imposes hefty 'spyware' fines - Oct 5, 2004

Companies and others that secretly install "spyware" programs on people's computers to quietly monitor their Internet activities would face hefty federal fines under a bill the House passed Tuesday.
The most egregious behaviors ascribed to the category of such software -- secretly recording a person's computer keystrokes or mouse clicks -- are already illegal under U.S. wiretap and consumer protection laws.
The House proposal, known as the "Spy Act," adds civil penalties over what has emerged as an extraordinary frustration for Internet users, whose infected computers often turn sluggish and perform unexpectedly.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono, R-California, provides guidelines for technology companies that distribute software capable of most types of electronic monitoring. It requires that consumers explicitly choose to install such software and agree to the information being collected.
The House voted 399-1 to approve the bill.
The chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said Goodlatte's anti-spyware bill was preferable because of its criminal sanctions, and Barton said he will work to combine both proposals for a final vote by year's end.
Barton acknowledged that experts had recently found more than 60 varieties of spyware installed on the panel's own computers. He said all the spyware programs had been installed without the permission of computer users.
The committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, called the proposal approved Tuesday "a bill whose time has come."
"People are increasingly finding their home pages have been changed or their computers are sluggish," she said. "Their computers are no longer their own, and they can't figure out why."
The House bill approved Tuesday explicitly permits snooping software built by the FBI or spy agencies secretly collecting information under a court order or other legal permissions affecting federal departments.
The bill's bans against spyware would begin 12 months after it becomes law and would automatically expire after 2009.

Sadly, this ban won't do much. The companies can move overseas, unless the law is enforced with unexpected strength, and there will likely be loopholes or industry can circumvent the laws. Still, I hope this law passes and removes a lot of spyware, which is one of the largest threats to the internet and computers in general.

Often, this spyware (called "adware" by those who make it) is poorly created. The flawed coding results in computer crashes, sluggish processing power, and a wide range of other problems. Additionally, many spyware programs forcibly redirect a web surfer to a commercial website (frequently a search engine, which are rarely suspected and can garner great profits if run inappropriately). The result is often a useless computer, at least until the operating system is reinstalled (which results in the loss of all saved documents and files) or practical inability to use the internet.
In the end, this costs the computer and internet industry a lot of money. And, without new restrictions, those costs would continue to increase so that a few despicable companies can get easy money. It’s like a mechanic who refuses to return your car unless you pay for repairs that were unnecessary and probably not even done.
My apologies to mechanics, as they have been rather unfairly labeled by this comparison. I know that most mechanics are great workers and honest, but I can not think of a more suitable illustration.