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November 6, 2003
Green Highlights the Dangers of Spam and Computer Viruses at Subcommittee Hearing
 Green’s Spam Bill Would Protect Against an “Invasion of the Inbox Snatchers”
Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Gene Green gave the following statement at the Energy and Commerce  Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet hearing regarding, “Computer Viruses: The Disease, the Detection, and the Prescription for Protection”:
 
“Computer viruses are causing terrible harm to computer users and billions in damages to U.S. businesses. Computer technologies have delivered tremendous benefits to our economy and society in recent years, but there are unintended consequences.  We have unsolicited email, viruses, computer worms and recent combinations that are attempting to swarm our networks. The combination of email spam and viruses is like putting a SARS patient on every airline flight in the country. 
 
“In August, the ‘Sobig’ virus became the fastest-spreading and most pervasive computer virus in history.  How did Sobig spread so fast?  Spam.  What was the cost?  At least $3 billion.
 
“An even more despicable tactic is also a possibility, a spam message with a virus that turns innocent computers into more senders of more spam.  It’s the invasion of the inbox snatchers, with spammers turning our computers into spamming zombies. With virus-infested spam infecting our networks, I am glad we are having this hearing to see what private sector solutions that are being developed to attack this new, mutated infection.
 
“But there is also something this Committee and this Congress can do about it.  To complement and support private sector efforts to stop spam and spam viruses, a majority of the members of this Committee are sponsors of H.R. 2515, the Wilson-Green Anti-Spam Act of 2003, which is the strongest anti-spam bill in Congress. 
 
“Many are impressed that the Senate has acted so quickly on their spam legislation. But I want to warn my colleagues that a weak spam bill may well be worse than none at all.  If we are going to preempt state laws, under which state actions are currently being brought, it needs to be a strong federal law.  With the unholy alliance of spam and viruses, we need all our law enforcement tools on hand to protect ourselves.
 
“The Senate-passed bill has ineffective enforcement, as the bi-partisan Internet Committee of the National Association of Attorneys General concluded in a November 4th letter. That letter was signed by Texas’ Attorney General, along with Attorneys General for California, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
 
“To cite one example of how strong anti-spam legislation will cut down on computer viruses, the Wilson-Green bill bans misleading subject lines. Misleading subject lines are a primary way that spam viruses work, enticing innocent users to open dangerous email.  The bill offered by my friend Mr. Burr from North Carolina does not prohibit misleading subject lines.  The bill that passed the Senate allows spammers an ‘affirmative defense’ clause so they can argue that they tried to follow the law while they were violating it.
 
“The Wilson-Green bill also prohibits dictionary attacks, a highly effective spamming method that can make a spam virus even more devastating.  Neither the Burr bill nor the Senate-passed bill prohibits dictionary attacks. These differences don’t just impact how much consumers are annoyed; they have a major impact on our economy. 
 
“In closing, I want to mention again that just one spam virus caused at least $3 billion in economic damages.  Some estimates are much higher.   Viruses used to be sent out by hackers trying to prove how smart they are.  Now spam viruses like ‘Sobig’ are being sent out by people trying to see how much money they can make.  I believe we need to act on strong anti-spam legislation with tough enforcement as soon as possible.”
 
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