United States of America has been one of the few nations who have attempted to codify virtual or at least some parts of it. Chief breakthrough in this field was when E-Government Act of 2002 was passed by the senate (accessible at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.2458.ENR). Main purpose of this Act is to make government more transparent and accessible to its citizens. Also, this Act recognizes various supporting technologies like- electronic signatures.
Much before passing of this law, the Privacy Act of 1974 (accessible at: http://www.justice.gov/opcl/privstat.htm) was enacted. This Act was floated with a purpose to ensure privacy of the individuals on internet. There was an urgent need to control the flow of personal or confidential data. These and many more legislations were enacted to make cyber space safer. Nevertheless, cyber crimes have increased and become more frequent.
Cybersecurity Bill of 2012 (accessible at: http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/the-cybersecurity-act-of-2012-s-2105) has been brought forth with an argument to impede all cyber crimes with a heavy hand. The introducers of the bill have expressed the urgency of the issue saying, "The risks to our nation are real and immediate". This bill has been introduced by the Democrats while the Republicans have successfully blocked the bill for this year.
The Bill could transform into an Act only with 60 votes in its favor to pass from the Senate. The bill could obtain only 52 votes in favor of passing the Act. The arguments against the bill are debatable but noteworthy. A concern has been expressed for increasing costs for private businesses. The bill lays down certain mandatory procedures to be followed by enterprises so as to prevent hacking, data theft, etc.
On the question of introducing provisions on GPS tracking system in this bill Sen.Ron Wyden said that “Because the law has not kept up with the pace of innovation, it makes sense to include the GPS Act’s requirement that law enforcement obtain a warrant for GPS tracking in the Cybersecurity Act. This will protect Americans’ location information from misuse. Part of the goal of the cybersecurity legislation is to update rules for information collection and privacy for the digital age, which is what the GPS Act is all about.”
In a nutshell, the positive points about the bill could be that it deals with an existing issue which needs urgent redressal as common public could be a target of cyber attacks too. It also covers some of the aspects that are not yet covered by any other act in force. On the other hand, the negative points could be cost appreciation for small enterprises and non-consideration of privacy issues.