Prepared Statement of The Honorable Joe Barton

Combating Spyware: H.R. 29, the Spy Act

Full Committee on Energy and Commerce
January 26, 2005

Good morning, and welcome to all Members and guests for the first hearing of the Committee in the 109th Congress.

Today, the Committee will receive testimony on legislation to protect consumers against Internet spying. Legislation, I should add, that last year passed through this Committee on a 45-5 vote, and then the House Floor: 399-1. Not only did the bill receive overwhelming support from Members, but many technology companies and associations including Yahoo, Ebay, AOL TimeWarner, Dell, Microsoft, Earthlink, and the U.S. Telecom Association have supported this bill as well.

The reason for this broad support is evident: the problem of Internet spying has grown to a critical point. Internet and technology companies are swamped by complaints and calls from their customers, not only asking for help in cleaning their computers of these programs, but also expressing real anger that their machines are continually slowed or stopped by simply navigating the Internet. Many consumers remain unaware how these applications end up on their computers, and remain unable to remove them because of deceptive or nonexistent instructions for uninstalling them.

Losing some level of control of your personal property is bad enough, but when added to the likelihood that these programs are monitoring your computer usage and transferring private information to third parties, the spyware problem rises to a dangerous level. Many of the least violations constitute a trespass-like offense and in the worst cases, facilitate theft and fraud. Information gathered by spyware programs can be used to further slow your computer use by bombarding you with pop-up ads, and the collection of personal information can be used to steal your money, your identity, or both.

All members', their families, and their constituents have become susceptible to this problem. Even many of our Committee computers here on the Hill have been hampered by spyware's ill effects. This is a problem that must be addressed quickly, and given the interstate nature of e-commerce, it must be addressed by federal legislation. I am encouraged that the FTC is finally taking action against some of the worst actors in the spyware realm, but Congress must also act quickly to give the FTC the additional power it needs to stem the tide of this Internet monitoring. Last year, as I mentioned, we succeeded in passing this bill through the House, but the Senate failed to act. I hope that will not be the case this year.

I want to commend a number of Members for their outstanding leadership on this issue. Unfortunately Mary Bono has come down with a pretty severe case of bronchitis so she couldn't make it back to Washington for the hearing today, but I wanted to single her out in particular. She introduced this legislation in 2003 when most of us had never heard of Spyware, and has worked tirelessly to ensure its passage. Ed Towns cosponsored the legislation with Reprensentative Bono and has been a great bipartisan partner in this project, working also with Subcommittee Chairman Stearns and Ranking Member Schakowsky to help craft a great bill.

These Members, as well as Ranking Member Dingell, worked diligently to bring this legislation to the Floor last year and I hope we can move quickly this year to put this important protection in place for all consumers.

I am also encouraged by the participation of industry groups. We have drawn on their expertise in crafting anti-spyware legislation. I also want to encourage them in the work they are doing to combat spyware on technological and consumer education levels. It will take a mix of technology, consumer awareness, industry best practices, and strong enforcement to effectively fight spyware. I thank those that have worked with us through the process and those that are participating in our hearing today.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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