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109thCONGRESS
1st Session
1st Session
H.R. 744
INTHE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 24,2005
Received; read twice andreferred to the Committee on the Judiciary ANACT
Be it enacted by the Senate and House ofRepresentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited asthe `Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention Act of 2005'.
SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES RELATINGTO COMPUTERS.
(a) In General- Chapter 47of title 18, is amended by inserting after section 1030 the following:
`Sec. 1030A. Illicit indirect use of protected computers
`(a) Whoever intentionallyaccesses a protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorizedaccess to a protected computer, by causing a computer program or code to becopied onto the protected computer, and intentionally uses that program or codein furtherance of another Federal criminal offense shall be fined under thistitle or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
`(b) Whoever intentionallyaccesses a protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorizedaccess to a protected computer, by causing a computer program or code to becopied onto the protected computer, and by means of that program or code--
`(1) intentionallyobtains, or transmits to another, personal information with the intent todefraud or injure a person or cause damage to a protected computer; or
`(2) intentionally impairsthe security protection of the protected computer with the intent to defraud orinjure a person or damage a protected computer;
shall be fined under thistitle or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
`(c) No person may bring acivil action under the law of any State if such action is premised in whole orin part upon the defendant's violating this section. For the purposes of thissubsection, the term `State' includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,and any other territory or possession of the United States.
`(d) As used in thissection--
`(1) the terms `protectedcomputer' and `exceeds authorized access' have, respectively, the meaningsgiven those terms in section 1030; and
`(2) the term `personalinformation' means--
`(A) a first and lastname;
`(B) a home or otherphysical address, including street name;
`(C) an electronic mailaddress;
`(D) a telephone number;
`(E) a Social Securitynumber, tax identification number, drivers license number, passport number, orany other government-issued identification number; or
`(F) a credit card or bankaccount number or any password or access code associated with a credit card orbank account.
`(e) This section does notprohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligenceactivity of a law enforcement agency of the United States, a State, or apolitical subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the UnitedStates.'.
(b) Conforming Amendment-The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 47 of title 18, is amended byinserting after the item relating to section 1030 the following new item:
`1030A. Illicit indirectuse of protected computers.'.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
In addition to any othersums otherwise authorized to be appropriated for this purpose, there areauthorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2009, thesum of $10,000,000 to the Attorney General for prosecutions needed todiscourage the use of spyware and the practices commonly called phishing andpharming.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING THEENFORCEMENT OF CERTAIN CYBERCRIMES.
(a) Findings- Congressmakes the following findings:
(1) Software andelectronic communications are increasingly being used by criminals to invadeindividuals' and businesses' computers without authorization.
(2) Two particularlyegregious types of such schemes are the use of spyware and phishing scams.
(3) These schemes areoften used to obtain personal information, such as bank account and credit cardnumbers, which can then be used as a means to commit other types of theft.
(4) In addition to thedevastating damage that these heinous activities can inflict on individuals andbusinesses, they also undermine the confidence that citizens have in using theInternet.
(5) The continueddevelopment of innovative technologies in response to consumer demand iscrucial in the fight against spyware.
(b) Sense of Congress-Because of the serious nature of these offenses, and the Internet's uniqueimportance in the daily lives of citizens and in interstate commerce, it is thesense of Congress that the Department of Justice should use the amendments madeby this Act, and all other available tools, vigorously to prosecute those whouse spyware to commit crimes and those that conduct phishing and pharmingscams.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.