CHICAGO -- Personal privacy is under siege online, with employers perusing e-mail their employees send from the office desktop computer or personal digital assistant, while at home consumer computers being bombarded with spyware -- software programs from unscrupulous marketers that secretly track their patterns on the Internet.

In response, the House of Representatives is moving forward with legislation to protect consumers against some forms of cyber trespass.

"This is on the fast track," Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said on the House floor late last month. By Gene Koprowski