Having failed to pass any meaningful Internet privacy legislation last year even with a resounding mandate from most voters, Congress cannot afford to miss another opportunity to enact online privacy laws this year, lest the Internet be gridlocked by a myriad . . .
Having failed to pass any meaningful Internet privacy legislation last year even with a resounding mandate from most voters, Congress cannot afford to miss another opportunity to enact online privacy laws this year, lest the Internet be gridlocked by a myriad of conflicting and burdensome regulations at the state and local level, a pair of influential lawmakers said.

"Our first call is to harmonize and perhaps even federally preempt statutes and actions so that interstate commerce will not be impeded in this new e-commerce world," said incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman W. J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., at a conference today sponsored by TechNet, a tech CEO-driven lobbying group.

Tauzin emphasized that a few "bad actors" that refuse to play by the rules or work to earn the industry's seal of approval should not deter Congress from enacting laws that let industry take the lead. Instead, he advocated a "highly targeted approach" to privacy legislation that would include provisions to "incentivize" industry self-regulation.

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