More on the Spy Act

Last week, the blog BoingBoing highlighted an analysis of the Spy Act by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that raises troubling questions about the Spy Act, an anti-spyware bill which recently passed the U.S. House.

The EFF’s analysis questions the wording of Section 6 of the Spy Act, which describes the proposed act’s effect on other laws. Section 6 would allow the Spy Act, as federal law, to preempt existing State laws which, according to EFF, are in some cases stronger in their provisions against spyware.

Most troubling, Section 6 also would prohibit private citizens from suing spyware producers and distributors, reserving that right for state Attorneys General and the FTC. As the EFF’s Fred von Lohmann notes, this provision would have made impossible the EFF’s action against Sony over badware rootkits that installed along with Sony’s digital restrictions management on music CDs.

Also see StopBadware’s previous post on the Spy Act, which raised concerns over a focus on regulation over criminal enforcement.

For more on this issue and many others, check the Stopbadware.org blog, for frequent updates.