At the state level, Utah is ahead of the rest of the US. It has already passed a law that goes into effect May 1. The Beehive State set provisions within the state’s Commerce and Trade Code relating to specific uses of spyware.

As reported in Utah's Deseret News:

The act, passed by the Legislature during the 2004 general session, is designed to cut down on spyware by making it illegal to create or install the software, which monitors Internet activity and sends that information elsewhere, usually without the user being aware of it or consenting to it. The law also seeks to curb deceptive look-alike pop-up advertising on the Internet and calls for penalties of $10,000 per violation.

The Utah law also requires spyware developers to provide a clear and functional procedure to remove spyware. The law also authorizes the Division of Consumer Protection to collect complaints about spyware for both enforcement purposes and further refinement of the law. There is a strong consumer protection component in the Utah law,too.

Utah state representative, Stephen Urquhart, is a sponsor of the bill. He told the Desert News, that the bill’s strength lies in its disclosure requirements.

He cited what he "he considers reasonable and unreasonable disclosure." And "when disclosure is displayed in a small window and requires a person to "page down" 44 times, "It's like asking someone to read legalese through a straw," he said.

At the federal level, three tech-savvy senators introduced legislation in February to regulate spyware. Their bill goes by a useful acronymn - SPYBLOCK (Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knowledge Act).

The bill, reports PCWorld, would:

‘Give consumers control over the programs that are downloaded onto their computers,’ says co-sponsor Barbara Boxer (D-California). The measure was introduced Thursday by Boxer and Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Conrad Burns (R-Montana). The bill tackles three aspects of spyware. It imposes new rules that would make it more difficult for companies to slip software onto users' systems surreptitiously; require easy directions and options for removal; and prohibit harmful spyware.

NEXT: What you can do to safeguard your own computer.

Note: This is the second of a three part series. See: Spyware: Time to look back at who's looking at you,
and Spyware protection: Taking some simple steps (by Jim Bencivenga)

April 22, 2004 in Security & Privacy | Permalink