Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act

SECURELY PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST CYBER TRESPASS ACT -- (House of Representatives - May 23, 2005)

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I can only heartily agree with all that has been said. Let me just add a few words.

Spyware has changed the computing experience for so many people. Increasingly, consumers are finding that their home Web pages are changed or that their computers are sluggish; and they get, as I said, the pop-up ads that will not go away no matter how many times they try to close them. They find software in their computer they did not install and they cannot uninstall; and their computers are no longer their own, and they cannot figure out why. And consumers tend to blame viruses on their old computer or their Internet service providers, but because spyware is bundled with software people do want to download or because it is drive-by downloaded from unknowingly visiting the wrong Web site, people do not know that in many cases the real cause of their headaches is spyware.

And some of the above examples can be written off as merely annoying. Spyware is so much more than merely annoying, as we have pointed out, and there are these serious privacy and security issues at stake.

These problems of slow computers and pop-up ads are just symptoms of the real trouble spyware can cause. Again, the software is so resourceful that it can snatch personal information from computer hard drives and track every Web site visited and log every keystroke entered.

Spyware is a serious threat to consumer privacy and potentially a powerful tool for identity theft, a serious crime on the rise. As the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, reports, in 2003 there were nearly 10 million Americans victimized by identity theft. Over the past 5 years, there have been 27 million victims, and my State of Illinois is in the top 10 for identity theft occurrences. On-line predators, like spyware transmitters, provide an easy access to personally identifiable information that can be used to steal people's identities and put them at greater risk of being financially and otherwise victimized.

So this is now the time, once again, for the House to pass this important bipartisan legislation. And I too want to thank all of the leaders who have been involved in bringing this bill once again to the floor. I want to particularly thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), whose statement, though he could not be here today, will be in the RECORD, and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns), who has worked on this legislation from the very beginning with the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Bono). And I want to thank the staff on our side, Diane Beedle and Consuela Washington, and the Republican staff for their hours of work.

I want to join the gentleman from Florida (Chairman STEARNS) in urging our Senate colleagues to move on this very important legislation. It is time that we not only pass it in the House, but that we make it the law of the land, and I look forward to seeing that happen in the near future. I thank my colleagues for the opportunity to work with all of them.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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