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House Passes Spyware Bill

by Terrence O'Brien on May 23, 2007 at 11:42 AM

House Passes Syware Bill
Good news for Windows users! Yesterday the House passed legislation that attaches jail time to the criminal use of Internet spyware.

According to the new bill, accessing a person's computer without authorization and with the intent of committing a federal offense would be punishable with up to five years in the clink. Illegally obtaining or transmitting personal information with the intent to scam or hurt that person or damage his or her computer would fetch an additional two years behind bars.

The bill also grants the Justice Department $10 million per year over the next four years to help combat other computer scams such as 'phishing' and 'pharming,' which dupe users into handing over personal information through the use of fake Web sites and e-mails.

It's nice to see that some members of government finally have our backs when it comes to Internet crime. It's just too bad the House has passed similar bills in the past -- none of which has ever made it through the Senate.

From USA Today


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Tags: breaking+news, government, law, spyware, top

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