The software industry is opposing a bill that's intended to crack down on so-called computer "spyware."

Spyware software is capable of secretly tracking a user's web-surfing habits.

The bill would make it illegal to distribute software that installs itself to a computer without the user's knowledge.

Robert Holleyman, the chief executive of the Business Software Alliance, told a Senate subcommittee that the problem is bad people, not bad products.

"Computer snooping, or spying on computer users, is a reprehensible practice that invades our privacy. But the problem is with reprehensible behavior, not bad software tools or products," he said.

The trade group says the same underlying technology that can enable spyware may also run many legitimate applications, so the software itself isn't the problem. Holleyman suggested putting restrictions on how information that is gathered is used.

The bill requires notice and consent before a software program downloads itself onto a computer.