CAN SPAM Didn't Work… So Let's Do It Again For Spyware

Legal Issues

from the train-wreck-in-slow-motion dept

Since it was first announced, it was pretty clear that the CAN SPAM legislation was much more about making politicians look good rather than actually stopping spam. Like so many laws, it was simply put in place with simplistic rules and no metrics to measure how effective it might be and (of course) no backup plan should it turn out not to work. So, with such a huge success behind them now that spam is gone… those same politicians now want to create a similar law which will be equally useless in stomping out spyware. The FTC has been pointing out that any such federal anti-spyware bill won’t do a damn thing to stop spyware — and that existing laws concerning fraud pretty much cover everything they need to go after malware providers. It’s much more a question of resources than of laws. For their troubles, however, the FTC now has to deal with Congress investigating why they’re not stopping spyware. This is all a big act, of course. The politicians know that claiming they stopped spyware will go over well with voters, so they’re going to pass something (anything!) that says it stops spyware, even if it does absolutely nothing or (better yet) if it makes the problem worse.