New version of House spyware bill out

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.politechbot.com/2004/06/24/spyware-vote/

The House Commerce committee today approved a highly regulatory bill 
related to spyware and adware. An excerpt from my article at News.com:

>    The Spy Act includes 21 pages of dense regulations that specify 
what software can and can't do and under what circumstances it must seek 
explicit permission from the user to proceed. It covers activities such 
as taking control of a computer, modifying browser settings, installing 
a keystroke logger, and bypassing antivirus software... High-tech 
companies had unsuccessfully tried to block or delay the vote, warning 
that the Spy Act was written so sloppily that it could imperil Internet 
service providers and restrict legitimate applications embedded in 
computer operating systems.

Over two dozen changes were made to the bill in the last 24 hours. Among 
the changes: Network providers may use monitoring software to guard 
against network security and fraud; software vendors may choose from 
certain specific notices when asking for permission; and the 
anti-spyware regulations do not apply to software located on a server. 
Some of these are pretty big deals.

Here's the final text, a summary, and the changes that were made. 
(Supplied by the congresscritters, not written by me.)

Posted at 2004-06-24 19:08:51 by Declan McCullagh

_______________________________________________
Politech mailing list
Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)