May 12, 2005

Smith Introduces Spyware Prevention Bill

Smith Spyware Bill Improves Flexibility and Increases Enforcement of Existing Law

Washington, DC – Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Senator George Allen (R-VA) introduced legislation to protect American’s computers and networks from software designed to exploit computer memory, system resources and bandwidth. Known as spyware, this software can lead to the instability of the computer system, a disruption of network performance, or even a network crash. Smith’s bill bolsters enforcement of existing law, providing additional off-shore tracking measures, and increasing the pursuit of the most egregious offenders.

“There is a spyware epidemic in this country, nearly 80% of American computers suffer from spyware infection, and we must begin to battle back,” said Smith. “If you cannot enforce today’s anti-spyware regulations, then creating new ones won’t help.”

Smith’s legislation provides an additional $10 million to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is responsible for enforcing the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It provides the FTC additional authority to share and coordinate information with foreign law enforcement officials to improve their ability to pursue spyware criminals. Additionally, the FTC, U.S. attorney general and the state attorneys general will be given greater enforcement authority.

"Prioritizing spyware prevention requires that you direct attention at the issue, and provide the resources and flexibility needed to pursue the criminals,” Smith said. “People shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not their computers are loaded with debilitating software, and by enforcing the law they won’t have to.”

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