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Union Calendar No. 95 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1525 

[Report No. 110–159] 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to discourage spyware, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2007 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself, Mr. GOODLATTE, Ms. LINDA T. 

SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. SMITH of Texas, and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of 

Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

MAY 21, 2007 

Additional sponsor: Mr. FORBES

MAY 21, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 14, 2007] 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to discourage 

spyware, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Internet Spyware (I– 

3 SPY) Prevention Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVI5 TIES RELATING TO COMPUTERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 18, United 

7 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1030 the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘§ 1030A. Illicit indirect use of protected computers 

10 ‘‘(a) Whoever intentionally accesses a protected com11 puter without authorization, or exceeds authorized access to 

12 a protected computer, by causing a computer program or 

13 code to be copied onto the protected computer, and inten14 tionally uses that program or code in furtherance of another 

15 Federal criminal offense shall be fined under this title or 

16 imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

17 ‘‘(b) Whoever intentionally accesses a protected com18 puter without authorization, or exceeds authorized access to 

19 a protected computer, by causing a computer program or 

20 code to be copied onto the protected computer, and by means 

21 of that program or code— 

22 ‘‘(1) intentionally obtains, or transmits to an23 other, personal information with the intent to defraud 

24 or injure a person or cause damage to a protected 

25 computer; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) intentionally impairs the security protec2 tion of the protected computer with the intent to de3 fraud or injure a person or damage a protected com4 puter; 

5 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 

6 2 years, or both. 

7 ‘‘(c) No person may bring a civil action under the law 

8 of any State if such action is premised in whole or in part 

9 upon the defendant’s violating this section. For the purposes 

10 of this subsection, the term ‘State’ includes the District of 

11 Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other territory or posses12 sion of the United States. 

13 ‘‘(d) As used in this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘protected computer’ and ‘exceeds 

15 authorized access’ have, respectively, the meanings 

16 given those terms in section 1030; and 

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘personal information’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) a first and last name; 

19 ‘‘(B) a home or other physical address, in20 cluding street name; 

21 ‘‘(C) an electronic mail address; 

22 ‘‘(D) a telephone number; 

23 ‘‘(E) a Social Security number, tax identi24 fication number, drivers license number, passVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:08 May 22, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1525.RH H1525

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1 port number, or any other government-issued 

2 identification number; or 

3 ‘‘(F) a credit card or bank account number 

4 or any password or access code associated with 

5 a credit card or bank account. 

6 ‘‘(e) This section does not prohibit any lawfully au7 thorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity of 

8 a law enforcement agency of the United States, a State, or 

9 a political subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agen10 cy of the United States.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

12 the beginning of chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, 

13 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 1030 the following new item: 

‘‘1030A. Illicit indirect use of protected computers.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 In addition to any other sums otherwise authorized to 

17 be appropriated for this purpose, there are authorized to 

18 be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011, 

19 the sum of $10,000,000 to the Attorney General for prosecu20 tions needed to discourage the use of spyware and the prac21 tices commonly called phishing and pharming. 

22 SEC. 4. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING 

23 THE ENFORCEMENT OF CERTAIN 

24 CYBERCRIMES. 

25 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Software and electronic communications are 

2 increasingly being used by criminals to invade indi3 viduals’ and businesses’ computers without authoriza4 tion. 

5 (2) Two particularly egregious types of such 

6 schemes are the use of spyware and phishing scams. 

7 (3) These schemes are often used to obtain per8 sonal information, such as bank account and credit 

9 card numbers, which can then be used as a means to 

10 commit other types of theft. 

11 (4) In addition to the devastating damage that 

12 these heinous activities can inflict on individuals and 

13 businesses, they also undermine the confidence that 

14 citizens have in using the Internet. 

15 (5) The continued development of innovative 

16 technologies in response to consumer demand is cru17 cial in the fight against spyware. 

18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Because of the serious na19 ture of these offenses, and the Internet’s unique importance 

20 in the daily lives of citizens and in interstate commerce, 

21 it is the sense of Congress that the Department of Justice 

22 should use the amendments made by this Act, and all other 

23 available tools, vigorously to prosecute those who use 

24 spyware to commit crimes and those that conduct phishing 

25 and pharming scams. 


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Union Calendar No. 95 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1525 

[Report No. 110

–159] 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to 

discourage spyware, and for other purposes. 

MAY 21, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


bajohnson on PRODPC74 with BILLS