Anti-spyware legislation amended to allow third-party cookies

• Anti-spyware legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives inched closer to reality Wednesday as the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection approved the bill, which now goes to the full Commerce Committee for a vote.
• But in a significant development, subcommittee chairman Clifford Stearns (R-Florida) attached an amendment that would exempt software cookies, including third-party cookies, from the spyware definitions covered by the bill.
• Internet and software companies sought those changes out of worry that the original bill, sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono (R-California), potentially could have nabbed good actors as well as bad actors in its overall dragnet.
• The bill, HR29 or the Spy Act, aims to prevent spyware purveyors from hijacking a homepage or tracking users' keystrokes.
• Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) has already hinted that he will seek even more changes, noting that Stearns' amendment fixes only "some" problems with the bill.
• He didn't specify what other issues need to be addressed but invited technology interests to voice any outstanding concerns before the markup.
• "We will continue an open process and it will be mindful of legitimate business concerns as the bill moves to full committee markup and on to the House floor," Barton said.
• Some technology interests had complained that the original bill might wrongly penalize software used for security or authentication purposes or for parental monitoring of children's internet activity, among other legitimate uses.
• Roughly identical anti-spyware legislation (HR 2929) passed the House last year by an overwhelming 399-1 vote but got snarled in the Senate, where members never got around to a vote.
• "It is extremely important that the Senate take up this issue quickly, and that we get this bill to the president," he said.