[FYI] (Fwd) FC: Congress weighs life imprisonment for some computer intrusions

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Tue, 12 Feb 2002 08:37:46 -0500
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To:             	politech@politechbot.com
Subject:        	FC: Congress weighs life imprisonment for some computer intrusions
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com

Text of the Cyber Security Enhancement Act:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.3482:

Cybercast of the hearing, at 4 pm ET today:
http://www.house.gov/judiciary/schedule.htm

---

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50363,00.html

   Cybercrime Bill Ups the Ante
   By Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)
   2:00 a.m. Feb. 12, 2002 PST

   WASHINGTON -- Some forms of illegal hacking would be punished by
   life imprisonment under a proposal that Congress will debate on
   Tuesday.

   A House Judiciary subcommittee will consider the Cyber Security
   Enhancement Act (CSEA), which ups the penalties for computer
   intrusions, funds surveillance research and encourages Internet
   providers to turn over more information to police.

   CSEA, sponsored by Crime Subcommittee chairman Lamar Smith
   (R-Texas), is one of Congress' more recent responses to the Sept.
   11 terrorist attacks. Smith introduced the bill in December 2001,
   saying that it will "combat cybercrime and cyberterrorism and send
   the signal that if you engage in cybercrime or cyberterrorism, you
   will be punished."

   [...]

   Currently it's illegal for an Internet provider
   to "knowingly divulge" what you're doing except in some specific
   circumstances, such as when troubleshooting glitches, receiving a
   court order or tipping off police that a crime's in progress. The
   bill expands that list to include when "an emergency involving
   danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires
   disclosure of the information without delay."

   As an incentive for Internet providers not to be overly zealous in
   handing over terabytes of data to the feds, current law allows
   customers to sue for damages. But if CSEA took effect, an Internet
   provider's "good faith determination" that something smelled fishy
   would immunize it from lawsuits by irate customers.

   [...]



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