109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 29
AN ACT
To protect users of the Internet from unknowing
transmission of their personally identifiable infor-
mation through spyware programs, and for other
purposes.
109TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 29
AN ACT
To protect users of the Internet from unknowing trans-
mission of their personally identifiable information
through spyware programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securely Protect Your-
self Against Cyber Trespass Act’’ or the ‘‘Spy Act’’.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF [UNFAIR OR] DECEPTIVE ACTS OR
PRACTICES RELATING TO SPYWARE.
(a) PROHIBITION.—It is unlawful for any person,
who is not the owner or authorized user of a protected
computer, to engage in unfair or deceptive acts or prac-
tices that involve any of the following conduct with respect
to the protected computer:
(1) Taking control of the computer by—
(A) utilizing such computer to send unso-
licited information or material from the com-
puter to others;
(B) diverting the Internet browser of the
computer, or similar program of the computer
used to access and navigate the Internet—
(i) without authorization of the owner
or authorized user of the computer; and
(ii) away from the site the user in-
tended to view, to one or more other Web
pages, such that the user is prevented from
viewing the content at the intended Web
page, unless such diverting is otherwise au-
thorized;
(C) accessing, hijacking, or otherwise using
the modem, or Internet connection or service,
for the computer and thereby causing damage
to the computer or causing the owner or au-
thorized user or a third party defrauded by
such conduct to incur charges or other costs for
a service that is not authorized by such owner
or authorized user;
(D) using the computer as part of an ac-
tivity performed by a group of computers that
causes damage to another computer; or
(E) delivering advertisements that a user
of the computer cannot close without undue ef-
fort or knowledge by the user or without turn-
ing off the computer or closing all sessions of
the Internet browser for the computer.
(2) Modifying settings related to use of the
computer or to the computer’s access to or use of
the Internet by altering—
(A) the Web page that appears when the
owner or authorized user launches an Internet
browser or similar program used to access and
navigate the Internet;
(B) the default provider used to access or
search the Internet, or other existing Internet
connections settings;
(C) a list of bookmarks used by the com-
puter to access Web pages; or
(D) security or other settings of the com-
puter that protect information about the owner
or authorized user for the purposes of causing
damage or harm to the computer or owner or
user.
(3) Collecting personally identifiable informa-
tion through the use of a keystroke logging function.
(4) Inducing the owner or authorized user of
the computer to disclose personally identifiable infor-
mation by means of a Web page that—
(A) is substantially similar to a Web page
established or provided by another person; and
(B) misleads the owner or authorized user
that such Web page is provided by such other
person.
(5) Inducing the owner or authorized user to
install a component of computer software onto the
computer, or preventing reasonable efforts to block
the installation or execution of, or to disable, a com-
ponent of computer software by—