Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce

HOUSE FLOOR DEBATE ON
H.R. 29, SECURELY PROTECT YOURSELF
AGAINST CYBER TRESPASS (SPY ACT)

May 23, 2005

Mr. Speaker, identity theft is fast reaching epidemic proportions. Today we will address one aspect of the problem -- spyware.

Spyware programs sneak onto your computer, and allow a third party to harvest your personal information. It is the equivalent of putting a wiretap on your phone and listening to your conversations. Adware tracks your Web surfing or online shopping so that marketers can send you unwanted ads. Spyware can hijack your computer to pornographic or gambling sites, or steal your passwords and credit card information.

The rapid proliferation of spyware and adware threatens legitimate Internet commerce. The most common consumer complaints are: hijacked home pages, redirected Web searches, a flood of pop-up ads, and sluggish and crashed computers.

This bill is carefully balanced. It prohibits a number of unfair and deceptive acts or practices related to spyware, and provides for strong Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement and enhanced civil fines. It also recognizes that there are legitimate applications of spyware and, thus, exempts law enforcement, national security, network security and maintenance, and fraud detection from the SPY Act. It contains narrowly prescribed exceptions for benign internal navigation tracking on Web sites, and the ordinary construction of Web pages that do not collect personal information. It preserves legitimate online commerce.

Most importantly, this legislation requires companies that distribute spyware and adware to obtain permission from consumers through an easily understood licensing agreement before installing spyware or adware on their computers. The programs, once downloaded, would have to provide a means to identify the spyware or adware and easily uninstall or disable it.

Without aggressive enforcement, the goals of this bill will not be met. We are asking the FTC to do a great deal in a very complex area and I trust that the appropriators will provide them with sufficient resources to fulfill these tasks. If not, this bill will be an empty promise, unless the state attorneys general step in forcefully.

This legislation is supported by a coalition that includes: the Business Software Alliance, the Center For Democracy and Technology, the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, Dell, eBay Inc., Fidelity, Humana, Inc., Microsoft, 180 Solutions, Recording Industry Association of America, Time Warner/AOL, United States Telecom Association, Webroot Software, Inc., WhenU, and Yahoo! -- all of whom have submitted letters of support. The coalition also includes DoubleClick, Inc. and ValueClick, Inc. -- two of the leading companies in the rapidly growing online advertising industry.

The bill has improved at every stage of its consideration, and I want to commend the leadership and hard work of Chairman Barton, Reps. Stearns and Schakowsky, the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, and Reps. Bono and Towns, the lead Republican and Democratic sponsors of the bill. I also commend the bipartisan staff team who worked very hard to get this bill to the House floor.

I am proud to cosponsor this bill. I urge my Colleagues to vote “Yes” on passage of H.R. 29. It is a good bill. It is good for consumers. And it is good for honest commerce on the Internet.

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(Contact: Jodi Seth, 202-225-3641)