Sen. Edwards Intro's 'Spyware Control Act'

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () PRIVACYFOUNDATION ORG>]

http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/156365.html

Sen. Edwards Intro's 'Spyware Control Act'
By Brian Krebs, Newsbytes
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A.,
09 Oct 2000, 3:29 PM CST

Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., introduced legislation on Friday that would force
software manufacturers to notify consumers when their products include
"spyware," bits of code that surreptitiously transmit information about the
user's Web surfing habits back to the software company.

"I have been closely following the privacy debate for some time now, and I
am struck by how often I discover new ways in which our privacy is being
eroded," Edwards said Friday in a speech introducing his bill. "Spyware is
among the more startling examples of how this erosion is occurring."

Under S. 3180, the "Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act,"
manufacturers that build spyware into their products must give consumers
clear and conspicuous notice - at the time of installation - that the
software contains spyware. Such a notice would describe what information
would be collected and to whom it would be sent. The spyware would then be
forced to lie dormant unless the consumer chooses to enable it.

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