S.Amdt. 5936

The amendment, titled the Stop Foreign Spyware Act, aims to add a new section to bill S. 4784. Its purpose is to provide relief for people targeted by foreign commercial spyware, which aligns with national security and foreign policy interests to counter counterintelligence threats.

The amendment changes section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, by adding the following:

• Definitions: It defines commercial spyware as spyware provided for commercial purposes and foreign person as a non-United States person located outside the United States.

• Legal Actions: It establishes where civil actions against foreign persons using commercial spyware can be filed, including districts where a plaintiff or defendant resides, or where the hardware, software, servers, or services used in the violation are located.

• Court Rules: It prevents district courts from dismissing these civil actions based on the forum being inconvenient or inappropriate.

• Jurisdiction: A foreign person is considered to have consented to personal jurisdiction if they directed, enabled, developed, sold, licensed, or owned commercial spyware that accesses systems or people located in the United States.

• Timeline: These changes apply to any pending case or any action that happened starting 4 years before the date the Act is enacted.