To prohibit employers from compelling or coercing any person to authorize access to a protected computer, and for other purposes.

Summary: Password Protection Act of 2012 - Amends the federal criminal code to subject to a fine any employer who knowingly and intentionally: (1) compels or coerces any person to provide the employer with a password or similar information to access a protected computer not owned by such employer; or (2) discharges, disciplines, discriminates, or threatens to take such actions, against any person who fails to authorize access to such computer, has filed a complaint or instituted a proceeding regarding such action, or testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.

Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction to grant equitable relief in a civil action, if the court believes that the information sought to be obtained is relevant to protecting the intellectual property, a trade secret, or confidential business information of the party seeking relief.

Exempts an employer's actions from such prohibition if: (1) the employer discharges or disciplines an individual for good cause; (2) a state enacts a law that specifically waives such prohibition with respect to a particular class of state or agency employees and the employer's action relates to an employee in such class; or (3) an executive agency, military department, or other executive branch entity specifically waives the prohibition with respect to a particular class of employees who may have access to classified information.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Password Protection Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITED ACTIVITY.

    (a) In General.--Section 1030(a) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (7)(C), by inserting ``or'' after the 
        semicolon; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (7)(C) the following:
            ``(8) acting as an employer, knowingly and intentionally--
                    ``(A) for the purposes of employing, promoting, or 
                terminating employment, compels or coerces any person 
                to authorize access, such as by providing a password or 
                similar information through which a computer may be 
                accessed, to a protected computer that is not the 
                employer's protected computer, and thereby obtains 
                information from such protected computer; or
                    ``(B) discharges, disciplines, discriminates 
                against in any manner, or threatens to take any such 
                action against, any person--
                            ``(i) for failing to authorize access 
                        described in subparagraph (A) to a protected 
                        computer that is not the employer's protected 
                        computer; or
                            ``(ii) who has filed any complaint or 
                        instituted or caused to be instituted any 
                        proceeding under or related to this paragraph, 
                        or has testified or is about to testify in any 
                        such proceeding;''.
    (b) Fine.--Section 1030(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4)(G)(ii), by striking the period at the 
        end and inserting ``; and''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) a fine under this title, in the case of an offense 
        under subsection (a)(8) or an attempt to commit an offense 
        punishable under this paragraph.''.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 1030(e) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period and inserting 
        a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) the term `employee' means an employee, as such term 
        is defined in section 201(2) of the Genetic Nondiscrimination 
        Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff(2));
            ``(14) the term `employer' means an employer, as such term 
        is defined in such section 201(2); and
            ``(15) the term `employer's protected computer' means a 
        protected computer of the employer, including any protected 
        computer owned, operated, or otherwise controlled by, for, or 
        on behalf of that employer.''.
    (d) Exceptions.--Section 1030(f) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(f) This'' and inserting ``(f)(1) This''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2)(A) Nothing in subsection (a)(8) shall be construed to limit 
the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction to grant equitable 
relief in a civil action, if the court determines that there are 
specific and articulable facts showing that there are reasonable 
grounds to believe that the information sought to be obtained is 
relevant and material to protecting the intellectual property, a trade 
secret, or confidential business information of the party seeking the 
relief.
    ``(B) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(8), the prohibition in such 
subsection shall not apply to an employer's actions if--
            ``(i) the employer discharges or otherwise disciplines an 
        individual for good cause and an activity protected under 
        subsection (a)(8) is not a motivating factor for the discharge 
        or discipline of the individual;
            ``(ii) a State enacts a law that specifically waives 
        subsection (a)(8) with respect to a particular class of State 
        government employees or employees who work with individuals 
        under 13 years of age, and the employer's action relates to an 
        employee in such class; or
            ``(iii) an Executive agency (as defined in section 105 of 
        title 5), a military department (as defined in section 102 of 
        such title), or any other entity within the executive branch 
        that comes into the possession of classified information, 
        including the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security 
        Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office, specifically waives 
        subsection (a)(8) with respect to a particular class of 
        employees requiring eligibility for access to classified 
        information under Executive Order 12968 (60 Fed. Reg. 40245), 
        or any successor thereto, and the employer's action relates to 
        an employee in such class.''.