BSA Urges Congress to Pass Cyber Crime Legislation

Washington, D.C. (Dec. 18, 2007)

– The Business Software Alliance (BSA) today urged Congress to swiftly enact cyber crime legislation that would update criminal laws to provide law enforcement with much-needed tools to find and prosecute cyber criminals.

“This holiday season, Americans will spend as much as $30 billion for their online holiday shopping. But while they are doing so, many will worry that criminals are lurking in cyber space, waiting to steal their money or even their identity. Unfortunately, their concerns are justified,” said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman in testimony delivered before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

During his testimony, Holleyman said that today’s cyber fraud is increasingly perpetrated by organized crime rings that are motivated by huge profits and equipped to execute very elaborate schemes. He said the ability of law enforcement officials to act against cyber criminals is limited by gaps in existing law. “For too long, cyber criminals have taken advantage of legal blind spots to brazenly threaten online confidence and security,” he said.

Holleyman praised the broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate for legislation to update cyber crime laws. He noted that current proposals in Congress would provide a comprehensive approach to attacking cyber threats by closing loopholes in criminal statutes and stiffening penalties and sanctions to provide for more effective deterrence.

Holleyman congratulated Committee Chairman Conyers (D-MI) and Ranking Member Smith (R-TX), Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Ranking Member Randy Forbes (R–VA), and Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Steve Chabot (R-OH), for their leadership in support of cyber crime legislation. He told the committee members that Senate passage of the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007 (S. 2168) has created an opportunity for Congress to send legislation to the President soon. “Such legislation deserves to be enacted, can be enacted, and should be enacted as soon as possible,” he said.

The Business Software Alliance is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world. BSA programs foster technology innovation through education and policy initiatives that promote copyright protection, cyber security, trade and e-commerce. BSA members include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Bentley Systems, Borland, CA, Cadence Design Systems, Cisco Systems, CNC Software/Mastercam, Dell, EMC, Entrust, HP, IBM, Intel, McAfee, Microsoft, Monotype Imaging, PTC, SAP, Siemens PLM Software, SolidWorks, Sybase, Symantec, Synopsys, and The MathWorks.

For a copy of the testimony, please visit: Hearing on HR4175