A law criminalizing fraudulent acquiring and reselling phone records is pending in Congress.

Anyone who "fraudulently" acquires and resells records of calls made by a telephone subscriber could face fines of up to $500,000 and prison sentences of up to 20 years, under a bill proposed Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In light of increased congressional scrutiny of firms reselling phone records, lawsuits by phone companies, and outraged public, the proposed law, dubbed "Law Enforcement and Privacy Act of 2006" has been proposed by five republican and four democrats from the House Judiciary Committee.

[Via CNET News.com, CA -]