The Federal Trade Commission would gain expanded policing powers and could share information about spammers and other miscreants with foreign governments under a bill approved Thursday by a U.S. Senate panel.
In essence, the bill would expand existing FTC powers so that the agency could go after any "unfair or deceptive practices" that are likely to cause "forseeable injury" on U.S. soil or involve conduct in the United States.
Intended by its sponsors to help combat such menaces as spam, spyware and telemarketing fraud carried out on international turf, the bill would allow the FTC to collaborate with foreign law enforcement agencies and swap information on a reciprocal basis.
"This is one of the most insidious things that can possibly happen, where somebody sends a program into your computer and suddenly starts spying on you from your own computer, and we can't get at it because so much of it is done overseas," Sen. Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican, said at Thursday's Senate Commerce Committee meeting. "So this is going to give the FTC the tools that it needs to try to get cooperation overseas."
At the same time, the measure would "enhance the confidentiality of FTC investigations," said Sen. Gordon Smith, an Oregon Republican and the bill's chief sponsor.
That's because the FTC under the bill would not be obligated to disclose any material obtained during the investigation to anyone--unless Congress or a court orders the agency to do so.
A court could also delay or prohibit that disclosure if the judge finds that leaking the information could cause an "adverse result"--defined as endangering an individual's life or personal safety, causing flight from prosecution or destruction of evidence, intimidating potential witnesses, or "otherwise seriously jeopardizing an investigation."
Those provisions have repeatedly drawn alarm from civil liberties groups, which argue that the bill's wording is far too broad to safeguard against privacy intrusions and to file Freedom of Information Act requests about the FTC's activities in that area.
The bill won't become law unless it wins approval from the full Senate and House of Representatives. A similar measure was backed by a U.S. House of Representatives committee last year but failed to make it to the floor.
"This is one of the most insidious things that can possibly happen, where somebody sends a program into your computer and suddenly starts spying on you from your own computer, and we can't get at it because so much of it is done overseas," Sen. Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican, said.
As opposed to the Patriot Act, which allows government agencies to spy on our emails, the books we check out from a library and our phones calls.
I suppose it's okay when the government does it, as long as they pretend they think you're a terrorist.
The two telecom carriers will carry a next-generation iPad running on the fast, next-generation wireless technology, sources tell The Wall Street Journal.
Google creates an animated doodle that features a boy, a girl, Google's search engine, and a jump rope. But might there be darker, more analytical, more troubling interpretations to this tale?
The Silicon Valley online payments startup grew by 1,000 percent last year and is hopeful it can repeat that level of growth this year. To do that, it's had to move away from its early friends-and-family roots and embrace small businesses.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
Oh well, what price freedom and democracy??????
As opposed to the Patriot Act, which allows government agencies to spy on our emails, the books we check out from a library and our phones calls.
I suppose it's okay when the government does it, as long as they pretend they think you're a terrorist.