Anti-Fraud Bill Gets New Life

Yesterday's HP hearings may have created enough political pressure to revive a stalled House measure that would make it illegal for anyone to obtain or pay some one to obtain phone records of a third person, according to Reuters.

The bill, H.R. 4943, was passed by a key House committee in March, but has never been scheduled for a vote.

Momentum to vote on the bill has been building since Hewlett-Packard Co. admitted that its investigators obtained telephone records of board members, employees and journalists without their permission as the company tried to find out who was leaking sensitive information.[...]

The committee in March unanimously approved the measure, which also mandates tougher Federal Communications Commission rules for phone companies that maintain such records as well as higher fines for phone companies that fail to adhere to the standards.

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