[Congressional Bills 111th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 1319 Introduced in House (IH)] 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1319 To prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information on a computer through the use of certain ``peer-to-peer'' file sharing software without first providing notice and obtaining consent from the owner or authorized user of the computer. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 5, 2009 Mrs. Bono Mack (for herself, Mr. Barrow, and Mr. Barton of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information on a computer through the use of certain ``peer-to-peer'' file sharing software without first providing notice and obtaining consent from the owner or authorized user of the computer. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Informed P2P User Act''. SEC. 2. CONDUCT PROHIBITED. (a) Improper Disclosure of Personal Information Without Notice and Consent.--It is unlawful for any person who is not an owner or authorized user of a protected computer to cause or induce an owner or authorized user of the protected computer to make files from a protected computer available to another computer through a peer-to-peer file sharing program without-- (1) immediately prior to the installation of such program-- (A) providing clear and conspicuous notice that such program allows files on the protected computer to be available for searching and copying by another computer; and (B) obtaining the informed consent to the installation of such program from an owner or authorized user of the protected computer; and (2) immediately prior to initial activation of a file sharing function of such program-- (A) providing clear and conspicuous notice of which files are to be made available to another computer; and (B) obtaining the informed consent from an owner or authorized user of the protected computer for such files to be made available. (b) Preventing the Disabling or Removal of Certain Software.--It is unlawful for any person who is not an owner or authorized user of a protected computer-- (1) to prevent the reasonable efforts of an owner or authorized user from blocking the installation of a peer-to- peer file sharing program or function thereof; or (2) to fail to provide a reasonable and effective means to disable or remove from the protected computer any peer-to-peer file sharing program or function thereof that the person caused to be installed on that computer or induced another person to install. SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. (a) Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices.--A violation of section 2 shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). (b) Federal Trade Commission Enforcement.--The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. (c) Preservation of Federal and State Authority.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit or supersede any other Federal or State law. SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act-- (1) the term ``protected computer'' has the meaning given such term in section 1030(e)(2) of title 18, United States Code; and (2) the term ``peer-to-peer file sharing program'' means computer software that allows the computer on which such software is installed-- (A) to designate files available for transmission to another computer; (B) to transmit files directly to another computer; and (C) to request the transmission of files from another computer. <all>