The bill was written by state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Calif. It would have prohibited investigators from making "false, fictitious or fraudulent" statements or representations to obtain private information about an individual. Recently, this "pretexting" was at the center of a corporate spying scandal that rocked the top ranks of global computer maker Hewlett-Packard.
Pretexting can include the stealing of information such as telephone calling records, Social Security numbers and financial information. The California bill against pretexting won approval in three committees and sailed through the California State Senate with a 30-0 vote.
According to reports, a lobbyist for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse said that he encountered unexpected last-minute resistance from the MPAA, the group that has sued music consumers who allegedly steal music using Internet downloading websites, services and other techniques through the same methods that the bill would have prohibited.
The lobbyist said, "The MPAA has a tremendous amount of clout and they told legislators, 'We need to pose as someone other than who we are to stop illegal downloading.'" When the bill was introduced on the state assembly floor on Aug. 23, it was simply voted down 33-27 -- which was just days before the scandal from Hewlett-Packard's use of pretexting to spy on journalists and its own board members.
Records from the California state legislature confirm that the MPAA's paid lobbyists worked on the measure, and legislators -- including Sen. Bowen -- said that the MPAA made its displeasure with the bill clear to lawmakers. "The MPAA told some members the bill would interfere with piracy investigations" a legislative aide said.
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