The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would increase jail time for identity thieves and other fraudulent Web users who register sites under false identities.
The bill, which passed by voice vote, would not directly outlaw the use of fraudulent registration information.
Rather, it would increase by up to seven years the prison terms of those convicted of felonies.
It must be approved by the Senate before it becomes law.
Online investigators frequently find that suspects have filled out Web-site registration records with clearly fraudulent information — providing “555-555-5555” as a phone number or “Small Wok Way, Chopstick Town, WI” as a street address.
As many as 10 percent of the Internet’s 30 million domain names may be registered under false identities, according to a study released last year.
“The government must play a greater role in detecting those who conceal their identities online,” said Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, a sponsor of the bill.
This is a potentially interesting development, although I haven’t looked at the legislation myself to see whether the Reuters description is accurate. I’ll have to check to see if this has a prayer on the Senate side, too.
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