Spyware Bill Passes House

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an antispyware bill Tuesday on a voice vote.

The bill, sponsored by Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, and Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, would make it illegal to access a computer without authorization to commit another federal crime, such as a computer scam. Such offenses could lead to up to five years in prison, while obtaining or transmitting personal information with the aim of defrauding or injuring someone carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, as does damaging a computer.

The bill further would provide the Department of Justice with US$10 million annually over four years to deal with phishing, or using fraudulent e-mail addresses or Web sites to lure unsuspecting victims to provide personal information such as credit-card numbers, and pharming, which involves hackers redirecting traffic to fake Internet sites to fraudulently obtain personal data.

Trade groups praised passage of the bill. The Interactive Advertising Bureau called it "a major step" to make the Internet safe and secure and said it looks forward to "working with the Senate to enact a strong, sensible federal antispyware law."

That will be the next hurdle the measure faces. The Senate has yet to approve such a bill.