Denial of service attacks are committed by individuals who flood a web server with false and untraceable requests for information, overwhelming the system and ultimately crashing it.
Those found guilty under the proposed law would face a fine of up to $5,000 for the first conviction. If the criminal act causes more than $10,000 worth of damage, the accused will face up to three years imprisonment. At present, the penalty for such a crime is a $250 fine.
In the UK, those suspected of causing damage by developing and/or releasing a virus would likely be charged under the Computer Misuse Act of 1990, but only where corruption of data occurs. Denial of service attacks are more difficult.
If the individual responsible is prosecuted in the UK for such an attack, it is likely to be under the Computer Misuse Act. However, the Act predates the growth of the internet and it is not well suited to deal with such an attack. It is feasible that, depending on the nature of the attack, an attacker could slip through a loop hole. This is because the Act expects there to be access to or modification of material. In a denial of service attack, arguably, there is no such access. However, in England, it is possible that such an attack could also constitute an offence under the Criminal Damage Act. In Scotland, it could be prosecuted as malicious mischief.