[IP] Oklahoma bill to open your computer to companies...
Begin forwarded message:
From: Valdis.Kletnieks@xxxxxx
Date: April 11, 2006 4:00:45 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: FOR IP: Oklahoma bill to open your computer to companies...
(Note - this is an Oklahoma House bill, not a US Congress. Doesn't
make it
any more right...)
http://www.okgazette.com/news/templates/cover.asp?articleid=423&zoneid=7
Get ready for Microsoft, cable and phone companies, and quite a few
other
people to know a lot more about what you do on your computer, thanks
to House
Bill 2083.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Ben Fenwick
It's supposed to protect you from predators spying on your computer
habits, but
a bill Microsoft Corp. helped write for Oklahoma will open your personal
information to warrantless searches, according to a computer privacy
expert and
a state representative.
Called the "Computer Spyware Protection Act", House Bill 2083 would
create
fines of up to a million dollars for anyone using viruses or
surreptitious
computer techniques to break on to someone's computer without that
person's
knowledge and acceptance, according to the bill's state Senate
author, Clark
Jolley.
"The bill has a clear prohibition on anything going in without your
permission.
You have to grant permission", said Jolley, R-Edmond. "You can look
at your
license agreement. It will say whether they have the ability to take
that
information or not".
But therein lies the catch.
If you click that "accept" button on the routine user's agreement,
the proposed
law would allow any company from whom you bought upgradable software the
freedom to come onto your computer for "detection or prevention of the
unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal activities in
connection
with a network, service, or computer software, including scanning for
and
removing computer software prescribed under this act".
That means that Microsoft (or another company with such software) can
erase
spyware or viruses. But if you have, say, a pirated copy of Excel -
Microsoft
(or companies with similar software) can erase it, or anything else
they want
to erase, and not be held liable for it. Additionally, that phrase
"fraudulent
or other illegal activities" means they can:
- Let the local district attorney know that you wrote a hot check
last month.
- Let the attorney general know that you play online poker.
- Let the tax commission know you bought cartons of cigarettes and
didn't
pay the state tax on them.
- Read anything on your hard drive, such as your name, home
address, personal
identification code, passwords, Social Security number ... etc.,
etc., etc.
"I think in broad terms that is still a form of spying", said Marc
Rotenberg,
attorney and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information
Center in
Washington, D.C. "Some people say, 'Well, it's justified'. I'm not so
clear
that should be the case. Particularly if the reason you are passing
legislation
is to cover that activity".
The bill is scheduled to go back before the House for another vote.
Will the
Oklahoma House, on behalf of all computer users in the state of
Oklahoma, click
"accept"?
(More in the online article)
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