[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 744 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
1st Session
H. R. 744
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 24, 2005
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 18, United States Code, to discourage spyware, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention
Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES RELATING TO
COMPUTERS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 47 of title 18, is amended by inserting
after section 1030 the following:
``Sec. 1030A. Illicit indirect use of protected computers
``(a) Whoever intentionally accesses a protected computer without
authorization, or exceeds authorized access to a protected computer, by
causing a computer program or code to be copied onto the protected
computer, and intentionally uses that program or code in furtherance of
another Federal criminal offense shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
``(b) Whoever intentionally accesses a protected computer without
authorization, or exceeds authorized access to a protected computer, by
causing a computer program or code to be copied onto the protected
computer, and by means of that program or code--
``(1) intentionally obtains, or transmits to another,
personal information with the intent to defraud or injure a
person or cause damage to a protected computer; or
``(2) intentionally impairs the security protection of the
protected computer with the intent to defraud or injure a
person or damage a protected computer;
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or
both.
``(c) No person may bring a civil action under the law of any State
if such action is premised in whole or in part upon the defendant's
violating this section. For the purposes of this subsection, the term
`State' includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other
territory or possession of the United States.
``(d) As used in this section--
``(1) the terms `protected computer' and `exceeds
authorized access' have, respectively, the meanings given those
terms in section 1030; and
``(2) the term `personal information' means--
``(A) a first and last name;
``(B) a home or other physical address, including
street name;
``(C) an electronic mail address;
``(D) a telephone number;
``(E) a Social Security number, tax identification
number, drivers license number, passport number, or any
other government-issued identification number; or
``(F) a credit card or bank account number or any
password or access code associated with a credit card
or bank account.
``(e) This section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized
investigative, protective, or intelligence activity of a law
enforcement agency of the United States, a State, or a political
subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the United
States.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning
of chapter 47 of title 18, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 1030 the following new item:
``1030A. Illicit indirect use of protected computers.''.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
In addition to any other sums otherwise authorized to be
appropriated for this purpose, there are authorized to be appropriated
for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2009, the sum of $10,000,000 to
the Attorney General for prosecutions needed to discourage the use of
spyware and the practices commonly called phishing and pharming.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING THE ENFORCEMENT OF
CERTAIN CYBERCRIMES.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Software and electronic communications are increasingly
being used by criminals to invade individuals' and businesses'
computers without authorization.
(2) Two particularly egregious types of such schemes are
the use of spyware and phishing scams.
(3) These schemes are often used to obtain personal
information, such as bank account and credit card numbers,
which can then be used as a means to commit other types of
theft.
(4) In addition to the devastating damage that these
heinous activities can inflict on individuals and businesses,
they also undermine the confidence that citizens have in using
the Internet.
(5) The continued development of innovative technologies in
response to consumer demand is crucial in the fight against
spyware.
(b) Sense of Congress.--Because of the serious nature of these
offenses, and the Internet's unique importance in the daily lives of
citizens and in interstate commerce, it is the sense of Congress that
the Department of Justice should use the amendments made by this Act,
and all other available tools, vigorously to prosecute those who use
spyware to commit crimes and those that conduct phishing and pharming
scams.
Passed the House of Representatives May 23, 2005.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.