ANTI-SPYWARE BILL INTRODUCED IN U.S.
Posted by Douglas Sorocco, February 27, 2004 at 3:06 pm
ANTI-SPYWARE BILL INTRODUCED IN U.S. SENATE
Washington, DC ? Press Release -- "U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), today introduced legislation to prohibit spyware, adware, and other invasive software from being secretly installed on Americans? computers. For the first time, the SPYBLOCK (Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knowledge) Act would prohibit installing software on somebody else's computer without notice and consent, and requires reasonable "uninstall" procedures for all downloadable software. Spyware, adware and other hidden programs often secretly piggyback on downloaded Internet software without the user?s knowledge, transmitting information about computer usage and generating pop-up advertisements. Frequently such software is designed to be virtually impossible to uninstall."
After failing to get a hearing in the 106th Congress, Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) reintroduced his Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act on January 30, 2001. The bill in the 106th Congress (S. 3180) never made it out of committee. The bill reintroduced in the 107th Congress (S. 197 IS) also never made it out of committee.
A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Bono in July, 2003 (H.R. 2929, alternate site). As of 8/8/2003 the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
"/>
<date name="when" value="Sat, 28 Feb 2004 01:06:40 GMT