The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act, S. 2168, was originally introduced in 2007.
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200711/111607a.html
The House of Representatives Monday night finally approved provisions of the Act which is on its way to the President to be signed into law after its inclusion in another bill to protect former US Vice Presidents, H.R. 5938.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), sponsor of S. 2168, said in a prepared statement.
The anti-cyber crime Provisions included in the Former Vice President Protection Act would:
- Give victims of identity theft the ability to seek restitution for the loss of time and money spent restoring credit and remedying the harms of identity theft;
- Enable prosecution of those who steal personal information from a computer even when the victim’s computer is located in the same state as the thief’s computer. Under current law, federal courts only have jurisdiction if the thief uses an interstate communication to access the victim’s computer.
- Eliminate the requirement that damage to a victim’s computer exceed $5,000 before charges can be brought for unauthorized access to a computer. The provision protects innocent actors while punishing violations resulting in less than $5,000 in damage as misdemeanors.
- Make it a felony to employ spyware or keyloggers to damage ten or more computers regardless of the aggregate amount of damage caused, ensuring that the most egregious identity thieves will not escape with a minimal, or no, sentence.
- Makes it a crime to threaten to steal or release information from a computer. Current law only permits the prosecution of those who seek to extort companies or government agencies by explicitly threatening to shut down or damage a computer. Violators of this provision are subject to a criminal fine and up to five years in prison.
- Add the remedies of civil and criminal forfeiture to the arsenal of tools available to federal prosecutors to combat cyber crime, and mandate that the U.S. Sentencing Commission review and update its guidelines for identity theft and other cyber crime offenses.
Bill To Fight Identity Theft Headed To President’s Desk For Signature
