Computer Misuse Act amendment Bill welcomed by MP committee
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Tom Harris's Computer Misuse Act 1990 (Amendment) Bill picks up on the key recommendations of the APIG Inquiry into Revision of the Computer Misuse Act (1990) of June 2004 and follows APIG Chairman Derek Wyatt MP's own Ten Minute Rule Bill of April 2005.
The Bill amends section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act in order to explicitly criminalise all means of interference with a computer system, in particular creating a specific offence for denial-of-service attacks. The Bill also increases the tariff for CMA section 1 (hacking) offences from six months to two years and from five to ten years for further related offences.
Derek Wyatt MP said:
'We welcome this Bill particularly as it reflects the work of the All Party Group over the last 2 years and especially my own Ten Minute Rule Bill from earlier this year. We hope that the Government adopts the measures proposed in the Bill as a matter of urgency, reflecting the significant threat that cybercrime poses to the UK.'
In his speech to the House of Commons, Tom Harris MP highlighted the inconsistency between the severe financial consequences of hacking attacks that can cause losses of millions of pounds and the sentences currently possible to punish such attacks.
Tom Harris MP said:
"This is an issue that up until now hasn't been taken seriously enough. So much of the UK economy depends on the internet, and so many services are vulnerable if we allow these attackers to go unpunished. It's time we faced up to this new threat."
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 (Amendment) Bill was presented to the House of Commons on 12th July 2005.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 (Amendment) Bill highlights some of the key recommendations of the APIG CMA Inquiry which received written and oral evidence from a variety of interested parties and which Reported in June 2004.
The All Party Parliamentary Internet Group exists to provide a discussion forum between new media industries and parliamentarians. Accordingly, the group considers Internet issues as they affect society, informing Parliamentary debate through meetings, informal receptions, inquiries and reports. The group is open to all members of the Houses of Parliament.
Derek Wyatt MP is Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group and is Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey. He is a leading campaigner on Internet issues in Parliament. Officers of the Group are: Derek Wyatt MP (Chm); Charles Hendry MP; (JVCh), Nick Palmer MP (JVCh); Lord Erroll (Sec); Alan Reid MP (Treasurer)
Related links to this article:
All Party Parliamentary Internet Group
Details of the CMA Inquiry, including the written evidence and transcripts of public hearings are at this link
The full text of Tom Harris MP's speech is available at this link
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