SPYBLOCK = Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knowledge Act
The bill intends to prohibit the malware and spyware that has been finding its way on computers over the net.
Can we legislate these problem programs away? I'm not sure.
While I applaud the intention, I was worried about the potential burden upon the manufacturers of legitimate and helpful software offered by many people, often for free, and the extra burden that this might place upon them. I don't think it will affect most freeware programs. Most of the provisions are aimed at parts of programs that collect information, and supply advertisements.
Will the law pass? Who knows?
Here are the notice, consent, and uninstall requirements under the bill:
SEC. 3. NOTICE, CONSENT, AND UNINSTALL REQUIREMENTS.Maybe we do need some steps to be taken like this. I've lost a good number of hours over the past year or two helping people infected by this type of software.
(a) NOTICE- For purposes of section 2(a)(1), notice to the user of a computer shall--
(1) include a clear notification, displayed on the screen until the user either grants or denies consent to installation, of the name and general nature of the computer software that will be installed if the user grants consent; and
(2) include a separate disclosure, with respect to each information collection, advertising, distributed computing, and settings modification feature contained in the computer software, that--
(A) remains displayed on the screen until the user either grants or denies consent to that feature;
(B) in the case of an information collection feature, provides a clear description of--
(i) the type of personal or network information to be collected and transmitted by the computer software; and
(ii) the purpose for which the personal or network information is to be collected, transmitted, and used;
(C) in the case of an advertising feature, provides--
(i) a representative example of the type of advertisement that may be delivered by the computer software;
(ii) a clear description of--
(I) the estimated frequency with which each type of advertisement may be delivered; or
(II) the factors on which the frequency will depend; and
(iii) a clear description of how the user can distinguish each type of advertisement that the computer software delivers from advertisements generated by other software, Internet website operators, or services;
(D) in the case of a distributed computing feature, provides a clear description of--
(i) the types of information or messages the computer software will cause the computer to transmit;
(ii)(I) the estimated frequency with which the computer software will cause the computer to transmit such messages or information; or
(II) the factors on which the frequency will depend;
(iii) the estimated volume of such information or messages, and the likely impact, if any, on the processing or communications capacity of the user's computer; and
(iv) the nature, volume, and likely impact on the computer's processing capacity of any computational or processing tasks the computer software will cause the computer to perform in order to generate the information or messages the computer software will cause the computer to transmit;
(E) in the case of a settings modification feature, provides a clear description of the nature of the modification, its function, and any collateral effects the modification may produce; and
(F) provides a clear description of procedures the user may follow to turn off such feature or uninstall the computer software.
(b) CONSENT- For purposes of section 2(a)(2), consent requires--
(1) consent by the user of the computer to the installation of the computer software; and
(2) separate affirmative consent by the user of the computer to each information collection feature, advertising feature, distributed computing feature, and settings modification feature contained in the computer software.
(c) UNINSTALL PROCEDURES- For purposes of section 2(a)(3), computer software shall--
(1) appear in the `Add/Remove Programs' menu or any similar feature, if any, provided by each operating system with which the computer software functions;
(2) be capable of being removed completely using the normal procedures provided by each operating system with which the computer software functions for removing computer software; and
(3) in the case of computer software with an advertising feature, include an easily identifiable link clearly associated with each advertisement that the software causes to be displayed, such that selection of the link by the user of the computer generates an on-screen window that informs the user about how to turn off the advertising feature or uninstall the computer software.
