Anti-spam laws have never been very effective, but that may be about to change, at least as far as spyware delivered by spam email is concerned. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee has approved a bill that would require software distributors and advertisers to clearly notify and obtain consent from consumers before programs could be loaded onto a computer. Violators would face fines of up to $3 million for each deceptive act.
According to a report in the International Herald Tribune, freewheeling content found on YouTube is a growing concern for national governments. And governments are starting to put pressure on YouTube to censor material on its site to conform to local sensibilities. YouTube, which is currently in a dispute with the government of Thailand over material that Thai authorities say was disrespectful toward their King, is refusing to back down.