Proposed bill could jail hackers for life
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
November 13, 2002, 4:59 PM PT
WASHINGTON--A last-minute addition to a proposal for a Department of Homeland Security bill would punish malicious computer hackers with life in prison.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday evening began debating the bill, which would reshape large portions of the federal bureaucracy into a new department combining parts of 22 existing federal agencies, including the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, and the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center.
During closed-door negotiations before the debate began, the House Republican leadership inserted the 16-page Cyber Security Enhancement Act (CSEA) into the Homeland Security bill. CSEA expands the ability of police to conduct Internet or telephone eavesdropping without first obtaining a court order, and offers Internet providers more latitude to disclose information to police.
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