Enhanced Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act of 2005
Latest action · May 11, 2005 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 11, 2005
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Enhanced Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) combating spyware should be established as a matter of high priority for Federal Trade Commission (FTC) action; and (2) the resources and tools available to the FTC should be enhanced and expanded to increase the breadth and strength of the FTC's spyware enforcement efforts.
Declares that it is a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) to install through deceptive acts or practices software on protected computers.
Subjects such practices to: (1) enforcement as a proscribed unfair or deceptive act or practice; (2) triple the penalty amounts prescribed in the FTCA; and (3) FTC authority to order disgorgement and seizure of ill-gotten gains.
Preempts state and local law or remedies.
Denies a private right of action in either federal or state court.
Authorizes state Attorneys General to bring enforcement actions in federal court. Prohibits state Attorneys General from bringing an action under this Act if either the U.S. Attorney General or the FTC institutes an enforcement action.
Specifies federal and state law enforcement, investigatory, national security, and regulatory activities exempt from liability under this Act.
Extends the meaning of unfair or deceptive acts or practices subject to FTC enforcement to any such acts or practices involving foreign commerce that cause or are likely to cause reasonably foreseeable injury, or involve material conduct occurring, within the United States.
Amends the federal criminal code to prescribe criminal penalties for illicit indirect use of protected computers.
Cosponsors 5
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 11, 2005 to Oct 26, 2005; 2 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-OR | Gordon H. Smith | Original | May 11, 2005 |
| R-NV | John Ensign | Original | May 11, 2005 |
| R-NH | John E. Sununu | Jul 11, 2005 | |
| R-WY | Michael B. Enzi | Sep 7, 2005 | |
| R-SC | Jim DeMint | Oct 26, 2005 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Referred May 11, 2005 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 11, 2005Introduced in Senate
- May 11, 2005Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 109-406 | REGARDING SPYWARE31 pages | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee | Oct 5, 2005 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| RL32706 | Spyware: Background and Policy Issues for Congress Archived | Report | Jan 12, 2011 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to provide the Federal Trade Commission with the resources necessary to protect users of the Internet from the unfair and deceptive acts and practices associated with spyware, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Enhanced Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act of 2005
- Popular Titles
- Spyware Internet Protection bill
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
- Civil actions and liability
- Commerce
- Compensation for victims of crime
- Computer crimes
- Computer programming
- Computer security measures
- Computer software
- Consumer protection
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Federal preemption
- Federal Trade Commission
- Fines (Penalties)
- Foreign Trade and International Finance
- Forfeiture
- Government Operations and Politics
- Independent regulatory commissions
- Injunctions
- Internet
- Law
- Local laws
- Parties to actions
- Restrictive trade practices
- Science, Technology, Communications
- State laws
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 11, 2005Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.