Feds take aim at spyware

[Duke]

I know this article is over 3 days old but I wanted to post it and discuss it here:

Two bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this week could make it easier for law enforcement officials to prosecute purveyors of antispyware and help security vendors develop tools aimed at blocking the programs.
But the international nature of the problem makes it unlikely that the proposed U.S. laws will do much to stanch the spread of spyware, several IT managers said this week.

"I'm very happy that they are trying to do something," said Steve Gelfound, IT operations manager at the Endangered Child Unit of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va. "But it's really hard to try and control the Internet."

Gelfound called the proliferation of spyware a global problem. "Until everybody agrees to get together and do something, it's going to be almost impossible to stop it," he said.

The two bills, which were approved by wide margins, would impose monetary penalties and jail terms for people who use spyware programs to gather information from computers, monitor usage and serve up advertisements without user consent. Both bills still have to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Bush.


The remainder of the article is here.

 

[Duke]

Do you think the US is taking a step in the right direction?

I know that I'm all for whatever laws are implemented to get rid of spyware but do wonder how alexa, Microsoft, and all the anti-virus programs will function if it were to be a world wide, legally enforcable law. I do believe in "good spyware" as it's information goes into keeping your computer healthy but I also believe that spyware should be regulated as well.

Thoughts?

 

[Paul_KY]

Actually Duke, it's 7 days old, but anyway...

Since they passed the BS CAN SPAM Act, I'm a little skeptical of anything the government does do interfere with e-commerce. They have this little problem of putting a blanket over everyone, so only the roaches can crawl out. ;o)

 

[Duke]

Actually Duke, it's 7 days old, but anyway...

Since they passed the BS CAN SPAM Act, I'm a little skeptical of anything the government does do interfere with e-commerce. They have this little problem of putting a blanket over everyone, so only the roaches can crawl out. ;o)

OK, I did say over 3 days old so 7 qualifies

I understand what you're saying but I think there needs to be some sort of regulation online. It really seems like the net is becoming one big free-for-all and the people benefiting are the ones who usually do things just this side of legal with virtually no ethics attached.

I know that my browsing habits have been affected by the continual problems that spyware causes and I wouldn't be suprised to hear others are feel similar. Don't you feel some sort of regulation is necessary, maybe not this method, but something?

I guess the other question is how do you effectively police the internet?

 

[Paul_KY]

"I guess the other question is how do you effectively police the internet?"

Define, "effective".

 

[Duke]

Effective policing would be sending an incorrect version of dos to a malicious users computer and frying his motherboard. Maybe not IP logging, but computer logging so if you try and screw with other peoples hardware, software, websites, etc., you get the boot from your ISP and blackmarked somehow.

I don't really know Paul, all I know is that as the internet grows, the bad element grows with it.

 

[Paul_KY]

The bad guy would simply switch IPs. How would that, "police" anything?

 

[Duke]

Sure switching IP's would help, but what if there was a way to detect the malicious code as it was being broadcast or uploaded before a user could disconnect? What if there were a little chip in there somewhere that broadcast the physical location of the computer regardless of online/offline status?

Use your imagination a bit here Paul, is it really that inconceivable?

 

[Paul_KY]

You'd be getting into privacy issues there. And yes, criminals a protected by the laws also.