The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a new
version of the Homeland Security Bill by a vote of 299 to 121.
Under the proposed law, malicious computer hackers would face a
maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The provision is included in the Cyber Security Enhancement Act
(CSEA), which was inserted into the Homeland Security Bill before
the beginning of the debate in the House of Representatives. The
CSEA was originally introduced as a separate bill and was approved
by the House in July 2002, however it failed to pass in the
Senate.
CSEA provides for the penalty of life imprisonment for computer
hackers who recklessly put human lives at risk.
The law would also give police the authority to carry out
surveillance of internet and telephone communications without
having obtained a court order, in the case of an "ongoing attack"
on an internet-connected computer associated with a "national
security interest." This surveillance, however, would be limited to
traffic data and would not extend to the content of
communications.
The text of the Bill can be downloaded as a 484-page PDF
from:
http://hsc.house.gov/legislation/hr5710.pdf
