Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Burns Seeks Industry Input On Anti-Spyware Legislation

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 09:30:22 -0500

Burns Seeks Industry Input On Anti-Spyware Legislation

Sen. Conrad Burns (R., Mont.), chairman of the communications
subcommittee, today called on promoters of "spyware" and "adware"
and other interested parties to work with Congress as it drafted
legislation that several subcommittee members hope will restrict the
use of such software.

At the conclusion of a Senate hearing on the subject, Sen. Burns said
that adware, a software application in which advertising banners are
displayed while the program is running, can be a "legitimate business,"
but he said consumers needed to be protected by rules of the road.
"We want the industry to come together," he said.  "You can't let
government set the standards . . . If government sets the standards
then
we're going to be locked into that because it's hard to change and
technology changes too fast."

The committee heard testimony from Avi Naider, president and chief
executive officer of WhenU.com Inc., an adware provider.  Mr. Naider
said the software his company offers is easy to detect and easy to
remove.  But he said other providers are less ethical.

"It varies dramatically," he told the committee.  "We are certainly the
leaders in the standards we set . . . There are folks who do their best
to
make consumers unwary that they have installed [adware]."  He said
some consumers want to have adware on their computers and should
have that choice.  "There may be consumers who won't want to see a
coupon when they're about to shop," he said.  "There are consumers
who do."

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) asked senators to pass
legislation that targets wrongdoing, not the software itself.

"It is essential that we recognize that the problem comes from bad
people, not bad products," said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO
of BSA.  "The same underlying technology that can enable spyware
also may power many legitimate applications that benefit millions of
computer users everyday.

"Let me put it a different way," he said.  "We don't ban crowbars
because some people use them to break into houses. We don't ban cars
because some people use them to flee from a crime. And last year
Congress did not ban telephones because some people use them to
make unwanted marketing calls."

Jerry Berman, president of The Center for Democracy and
Technology, said Congress should first get a better handle on the issue
before attempting to pass a bill.  "We're going to need additional
legislation to close the gap," Mr. Berman said.  "Existing law may
cover it.  We may need to figure out where it falls short."

Sen. Burns said at the end of the hearing that he hoped passing a
spyware bill would take less time than the four years he and Sen. Ron
Wyden (D., Ore.) dedicated to anti-spamming legislation, which was
signed into law last year.

Sen. Wyden sounded a warning that Congress would ultimately pass a
bill, especially if abuses proliferate.   "It just seems to me what is
going on here is that snoops and spies are trying to set up base camps
in millions of computers across the country," he said.  "The owners of
computers in this nation ought to have control over what software gets
placed on that computer.  It really is just that simple." - Howard
Buskirk, [email-masked]

http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2004/td032304/index.htm

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