Comments on: New U.S. 'antispyware' bill invites fight with Net firms

Senate bill is likely to vex Net companies and advertisers, which have been warning for years that supposedly 'antispyware' proposals could impose problematic regulations.

[jazzrich9]

Nice analysis

I think the bill seems a little on the hefty side, and I certainly
hope the poor wording is the part of the author and not our
representatives.

I think the bill is a good idea though, but a better idea would be
to enforce our existing laws as against internet companies who
install spyware. At the end of the day, the author is very right,
while this bill specifies the properties of spyware, the bill is
unnecessary to prosecute the purveyors of spyware.

[genethomas2095]

Internet laws

SPAM et.al. cannot be stopped by USA laws, most spam originates outside the USA. Those USA spammers that do get caught, will later switch to non USA origins.

USA laws against INTERNET spammers etc is nice but pure PR and 99% ineffective. The internet is not designed for the elimination of spam and problem web sites.

It will continue no matter how many USA laws you pass.

The internet is atually designed for predators who want to remain anonyomus.

making 'local' laws again negative internet web sites and predators is funny and really useless, but nice PR for sure

[fred dunn]

It's About Time....

That someone at least puts SOMETHING in place. It will not be the "end all - cure all" but you have to start someplace.
As far as Net Firms, BOO-HOO. If you can't make profit without hijacking systems then you don't have a legitimate reason to be providing content or net access.

[michaelo1966]

Guessed it was Declan

Didn't notice the byline but halfway through reading this "report" subtly defending Spyware companies I thought "this sounds like a Declan hatchet job."

I scrolled up and -- sure enough -- the arch-conservative hack who misreported the "Al Gore invented the Internet" myth had his name all over it.

Note to CNet any anybody else: anything written by Declan should be conspicuously labeled as "OPINION" so it can be treated with a grain of salt by readers.

[missingamerica]

Any law is better than no law...

"Profit before integrity, morality, and the law" seems to be the sole self-enforced rule remaining in American business these days. Nowadays, when I hear a business or industry screaming about "unnecessary regulation" I automatically suspect they are doing something shady, if not outright illegal, already.

Spyware starts out on a bad premise from a privacy and individual rights perspective - if anything needed regulated on the 'net, this is it.

[inachu]

could impose problematic regulations on legitimate businesses.

What is a legit business doing trying to install itself without my athority?

These people who think their printer software demands to have internet communication.
Reading software tools
Printer software tools
Gaming software and more are all hogging up my banwidth! I even disabled live update and windows update. No! you can not connect fot any reason!
There needs to be a punkbusters for windwows that protects the OS like it does for gamers.

[protagonistic]

RE: New U.S. "anti-spyware" bill invites fight with Net firms

Perhaps is time we get a constitutional amendment banning
lawmakers who know nothing about computers from voting on
bills dealing with computer matters. :-)

On second thought that would not work as where would they
find a quorum when it came time to vote...

On third thought that might be the whole point of the
matter. :-)

[chash360]

Net Firms, what about M$?

It is Microsoft that violated the HTML spec, and all related security measures that even made spyware and the like possible. Why will no one hold them accountable? Hopefully this law will address this. They pass the keys to the bank vault out to everyone and when it gets robbed, they say we didn't do it, its not our fault.....

Don't ever forget that the internet used to be a DOD network, it was secure, until MS got their grubby hands all over it. Access was read-only for anonymous users (or rejected entirely), and no material read from a remote source was ever executed as code without the users direct command, and outside the browser environment. You could not create a link that appeared to be one address, that sent you somewhere else, there was no such thing as a popup. These are all deviations from the original secure spec, brought to you by MS. Remember the Netscape-IE battle? MS won and we all lost!!!

[scoupe1992]

MS didn't "violate the html spec". HTML isn't a spec for 1 thing. HTML means "Hyper-Text Markup Language". HTML was never secure in any way, shape or form. MS had nothing to do with the additions to HTML that made browser redirection possible, that was the W3 consortium. The W3 consortium is directly responsible for HTML and any revisions to it. What made it possible to alter the web browser was actually started by Netscape corporation with assistance from SunMicro. Those of us that actually know anything about the internet and web browsers refer to the collaboration between Netscape Corp and Sun Micro as Java and Javascript. Java and Javascript, which MS tried to buy rights to, led to the developement of VBscript (visual basic scripting language), Active-X and several other web-dev languages (Flash, Shockwave, SilverLight, etc). Javascript was the first scripting language and Java was the first web-dev language. Java originated from the C programming language, thus making it insecure by nature. So, instead of blaming MS for the insecurities of the Internet...why don't you blame the companies that actually started it? Blame Netscape Corp (now AOL LLC) and Sun Micro. BTW, Netscape Navigator and Mosaic browser (IE1-6 were based off the Mosaic source code) were the only graphical web browsers in existance when Java and Java script were developed.

[NoVista]

"There oughta be a law!"

Anyone who seriously considers that and thinks the federal goverment has to be involved should contemplate various past laws.

The Patriot Act -- which passed easily because no one in Congress apparently read it.

And what of Bush 'signings' to passed laws that no one even notices: unitary executive control of martial law and suspension of habeas corpus domestically.

Or go way back to the implementation of the Federal Reserve System and the IRS -- both private corporations. Happy with those?

Healthcare for Americans? "No child left behind"? Maybe it should be no child properly educated under federal mandate. Et cetera.

Mark Twain once wrote something along the lines of "Parts of horses sent to Washington for final assembly." That's Congress, a fine group of 19th century thinkers who can't cope with the 21st century.

We do have a real spyware problem in this country, they call it the NSA. And I don't think this trash bill will address that little problem.