Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has introduced a bill to the Senate that would criminalize phishing and pharming, according to wire service reports.
The bill, if passed into law, would impose jail terms up to five years and fines up to $250,000.
Phishing involves posing as a legitimate Web site to fraudulently obtain consumers’ passwords, credit card numbers and other personally identifiable information. Pharming is the practice of redirecting web browsers to the bogus Web sites, even if the user inputs a legitimate URL.
Leahy, one of the Senate’s Democrat leaders, took care to limit the scope of the bill and protect First Amendment rights. The bill protects free speech as it relates to parody and political speech online.
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