A look at new spyware laws

CNET News.com's Washington correspondent Declan McCullagh writes this morning about how five new federal bills have been drafted that could try to regulate spyware, the pernicious programs that we often unwittingly allow into our computers. The programs feed us tons of pop-up ads, monitor our behavior, and in really bad cases, steal info.

McCullagh says all five bills could become law. He calls them "son of Can-Spam" after the law passed two years ago that has done anything but eliminate harassing and unwanted e-mail spam. But the Can-Spam Act has added a lot of cost and anxiety for any business that sends e-mail to a customer list. Meanwhile, businesses still spend a lot of time and money trying to filter out the junk.