House Passes Spyware Bills

[RealitY]

stinerman writes "Today the house passed two bills aimed at stopping spyware / adware and unauthorized use of computers. H.R. 29 makes it 'unlawful for any person who is not the owner or authorized user of a protected computer to engage in deceptive acts or practices'. H.R. 744 (I-SPY Act) prohibits accessing a protected system via code copied on to the system to, among other things, disseminate personal information. Both bills sailed through the house and are expected to be passed by the Senate."

Source: Slashdot

[Yoga]

that's good to hear, but people don't realize that their ignorance is the reason the were infected with it in the first

[nsane]

yeah, that's really good news. can't wait to see what happens to sharman, and similar companies, when 95% of their income becomes illegal

[lynx]

Unfortunately I don't think Sharman et al will be affected.

Although the article says the bill is against spyware/adware, I believe the bill itself is only about unauthorised use of personal information coming out of systems, not ads coming in (or at best only unsolicited ones). If you read the terms & conditions of software like kazaa you are agreeing to the ads in the first place.

[I the end I]

Unfortunately I don't think Sharman et al will be affected.

Although the article says the bill is against spyware/adware, I believe the bill itself is only about unauthorised use of personal information coming out of systems, not ads coming in (or at best only unsolicited ones). If you read the terms & conditions of software like kazaa you are agreeing to the ads in the first place.

Bingo.