By a near-unanimous vote, a bill to make software makers tell you before loading information-collecting programs or "spyware" onto your machine passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee June 23.
The bill, by Reps. Mary Bono (R-California) and Edolphus Towns (D-New York), would let the Federal Trade Commission go after millions in fines for some of the more notorious spyware-related practices, such as keystroke loggers and identity theft. The bill would also mandate easy removal of spyware, which now often requires the help of an anti-spyware program (like Spybot Search and Destroy) or antivirus/security suites (like Norton SystemWorks) to remove.
One published report said a number of House Democrats think the Bono-Towns bill is moving too swiftly, saying it wasn't even made available to the Energy and Commerce Committee until the night before the vote. But supporters on the bill suggested it was likely to get further tweaks and modifications before going to the full House.
One of those Democrats saying "slow down" was California Rep. Anna Eshoo, who represents Silicon Valley and told reporters she thinks the Bono-Towns bill could obstruct "legitimate surveillance," citing online auction kings eBay's work at catching auction fraud, and other similar activities by other legitimate Websites.
