89–006 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 111–361 

INFORMED P2P USER ACT 

DECEMBER 8, 2009.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. WAXMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1319] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred 

the bill (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, having 

considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments 

and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Amendment .............................................................................................................. 2 

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 3 

Background and Need for Legislation .................................................................... 4 

Legislative History .................................................................................................. 5 

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 5 

Committee Votes ...................................................................................................... 5 

Statement of Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations ................. 5 

New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures ............. 5 

Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives .................................... 6 

Constitutional Authority Statement ...................................................................... 6 

Earmarks and Tax and Tariff Benefits .................................................................. 6 

Federal Advisory Committee Statement ................................................................ 6 

Applicability of Law to Legislative Branch ........................................................... 6 

Federal Mandates Statement ................................................................................. 6 

Committee Cost Estimate ....................................................................................... 6 

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate .......................................................... 7 

Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation ...................................................... 8 

Explanation of Amendments ................................................................................... 10 

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ..................................... 11 


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AMENDMENT

The amendments are as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Informed P2P User Act’’. 

SEC. 2. CONDUCT PROHIBITED. 

(a) NOTICE AND CONSENT REQUIRED FOR FILE-SHARING SOFTWARE.— 

(1) NOTICE AND CONSENT REQUIRED PRIOR TO INSTALLATION.—It is unlawful 

for any covered entity to install on a protected computer or offer or make available for installation or download on a protected computer a covered file-sharing 

program unless such program— 

(A) immediately prior to the installation or downloading of such program— 

(i) provides clear and conspicuous notice that such program allows 

files on the protected computer to be made available for searching and 

copying to one or more other computers; and 

(ii) obtains the informed consent to the installation of such program 

from an owner or authorized user of the protected computer; and 

(B) immediately prior to initial activation of a file-sharing function of 

such program— 

(i) provides clear and conspicuous notice of which files on the protected computer are to be made available for searching and copying to 

another computer; and 

(ii) obtains the informed consent from an owner or authorized user 

of the protected computer for such files to be made available for searching and copying to another computer. 

(2) NON-APPLICATION TO PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE.—Nothing in subparagraph 

(A) shall apply to the installation of a covered file-sharing program on a computer prior to the first sale of such computer to an end user, provided that notice is provided to the end user who first purchases the computer that such a 

program has been installed on the computer. 

(b) PREVENTING THE DISABLING OR REMOVAL OF CERTAIN SOFTWARE.—It is unlawful for any covered entity— 

(1) to prevent the reasonable efforts of an owner or authorized user of a protected computer from blocking the installation of a covered file-sharing program 

or file-sharing function thereof; or 

(2) to prevent an owner or authorized user of a protected computer from having a reasonable means to either— 

(A) disable from the protected computer any covered file-sharing program; 

or 

(B) remove from the protected computer any covered file-sharing program 

that the covered entity caused to be installed on that computer or induced 

another individual 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 ‘‘commercial entity’’ means an entity engaged in acts or practices 

in or affecting commerce, as such term is defined in section 4 of the Federal 

Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44); 

(2) the term ‘‘covered entity’’ means— 

(A) a commercial entity that develops a covered file-sharing program; and 

(B) a commercial entity that disseminates or distributes a covered filesharing program and is owned or operated by the commercial entity that 

developed the covered file-sharing program; 


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(3) the term ‘‘protected computer’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

1030(e)(2) of title 18, United States Code; and 

(4) the term ‘‘covered file-sharing program’’— 

(A) means a program, application, or software that is commercially marketed or distributed to the public and that enables— 

(i) a file or files on the computer on which such program is installed 

to be designated as available for searching and copying to one or more 

other computers; 

(ii) the searching of files on the computer on which such program is 

installed and the copying of any such file to another computer— 

(I) at the initiative of such other computer and without requiring 

any action by an owner or authorized user of the computer on 

which such program is installed; and 

(II) without requiring an owner or authorized user of the computer on which such program is installed to have selected or designated another computer as the recipient of any such file; and 

(iii) an owner or authorized user of the computer on which such program is installed to search files on one or more other computers using 

the same or a compatible program, application, or software, and copy 

such files to such owner or user’s computer; and 

(B) does not include a program, application, or software designed primarily to— 

(i) operate as a server that is accessible over the Internet using the 

Internet Domain Name system; 

(ii) transmit or receive email messages, instant messaging, real-time 

audio or video communications, or real-time voice communications; or 

(iii) provide network or computer security, network management, 

maintenance, diagnostics, technical support or repair, or to detect or 

prevent fraudulent activities. 

SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 

The Federal Trade Commission may promulgate regulations under section 553 of 

title 5, United States Code to accomplish the purposes of this Act. In promulgating 

rules under this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall not require the deployment or use of any specific products or technologies. 

SEC. 6. NONAPPLICATION TO GOVERNMENT. 

The prohibition in section 2 of this Act shall not apply to the Federal Government 

or any instrumentality of the Federal Government, nor to any State government or 

government of a subdivision of a State. 

Amend the title so as to read: 

A bill to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information on a computer through 

certain ‘‘peer-to-peer’’ file sharing programs without first providing notice and obtaining consent from an owner or authorized user of the computer. 

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 1319, the ‘‘Informed P2P User Act’’, was introduced on 

March 5, 2009, by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R–CA), along with Rep. 

Joe Barton (R–TX), the Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. John Barrow (D–GA). The purpose 

of the bill is to reduce inadvertent disclosures of sensitive information by making users of certain file-sharing programs more aware 

of how such programs work, how files are shared, and the potential 

risks involved with the use of such programs. 

The bill prohibits developers of covered file-sharing programs 

from installing, or making available for installation or downloading, a covered-file sharing program without first providing consumers with notice that the program allows files on the consumer’s 

computer to be searched and copied. The developer must then obtain the informed consent of the consumer. 

Under H.R. 1319, any covered file-sharing program must provide 

notice and obtain consent twice: when the program is first installed 

or downloaded and again immediately before the file-sharing funcVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:52 Dec 12, 2009 Jkt 089006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR361.XXX HR361

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1File-Sharing Breach at Investment Firm Highlights Dangers of P2P Networks—Again, Computer World (July 9, 2008) (online at www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command= 

viewArticleBasic&articleId=9108418); M. Eric Johnson, Dan McGuire, and Nicholas D. Wiley, 

Why File Sharing Networks Are Dangerous?, Communications of the ACM (Feb. 2009); and Academic Claims to Find Sensitive Medical Info Exposed on Peer-to-Peer Networks, Wired.com 

(Mar. 2, 2009) (online at www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/03/p2p-networks-le/). 2 Report: Obama Helicopter Security Breached, MSNBC (Mar. 1, 2009) (online at 

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29447088/). 3See, e.g., Nathaniel S. Good and Aaron Krekelberg, Usability and Privacy: A Study of Kazaa 

P2P File-Sharing, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Apr. 2003). 

tion is activated for the first time. The bill also makes it unlawful 

to prevent the reasonable efforts of a consumer to block the installation of a file-sharing program. Finally, the program must provide 

a reasonable means to disable or remove the program. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

File-sharing software enables consumers to share files over the 

Internet by accessing each other’s computer hard drives. To share 

files, consumers download and install software from the Internet, 

which enables them both to designate files on their computer for 

others to copy, as well as search for and copy files on other computers that are running the same or similar file-sharing program. 

Once the files have been designated for sharing, either intentionally or otherwise, any other person on the file-sharing network 

can copy those files. People can share any kind of file, from spreadsheets to movies. Currently, one of the most common and wellknown uses of such software is commercial file-sharing programs 

used by millions of consumers to lawfully share music, videos, pictures, and other files. Lawful applications of file-sharing technology 

provide enormous benefits to business, academia, and consumers. 

The use of file-sharing software, however, also presents significant risks for consumers. For example, recent news reports and 

studies highlight the danger of inadvertent sharing of sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, tax returns, and 

health records.1 Sensitive government documents have been discovered on file-sharing networks, including engineering and communications information about the President’s helicopter, Marine 

One.2

Inadvertent file sharing can occur for several reasons. In some 

cases, users simply do not understand which folders are available 

to other users on the network. In other cases, users mistakenly 

place sensitive documents in shared folders. Some consumers, focused on exchanging specific types of files such as music or videos, 

fail to appreciate that the software can be used to share any file 

on their computer. Different types of file-sharing software operate 

differently, and the risk of inadvertent sharing varies from program to program. File-sharing software users must understand the 

risk of inadvertent file sharing, properly configure their software, 

and know what files are designated for sharing on their computer. 

Reports of users inadvertently sharing sensitive files date back 

to the beginning of this decade, when file-sharing software and certain peer-to-peer (P2P) applications first became popular on the 

Internet.3 Over the past few years, certain distributors of file-sharing software have made efforts to improve disclosures and implement protections to reduce the risk of the inadvertent disclosure of 

sensitive information. Despite these efforts, the problem persists. 


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H.R. 1319, the Informed P2P User Act, is intended to reduce inadvertent disclosures of sensitive information by making users of 

file-sharing programs more aware of the risks involved. H.R. 1319 

focuses on a particular type of file-sharing application that can expose its users to a specific risk: inadvertently exposing their personal or sensitive data to downloading by users of the same or compatible file-sharing software without their specific knowledge or 

permission. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

On March 5, 2009, Rep. Bono Mack, with Ranking Member Barton and Rep. Barrow, introduced H.R. 1319, the Informed P2P User 

Act. Rep. Bono Mack introduced similar legislation, H.R. 7176, in 

the 110th Congress. H.R. 1319 was referred to the Subcommittee 

on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection on March 6, 2009. 

The Subcommittee held a legislative hearing on H.R. 1319 on May 

5, 2009. Testimony was heard from witnesses representing the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission 

(FTC); the Center for Democracy and Technology; the Business 

Software Alliance; the Distributed Computing Data Industry Association; the Electronic Privacy Information Center; Tiversa, Inc.; 

and the Center for the Study of Digital Property of the Progress & 

Freedom Foundation. There was no Subcommittee markup held on 

the legislation, as it was taken up directly in the full Committee. 

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

The Committee on Energy and Commerce met in open markup 

session on September 30, 2009, and considered H.R. 1319, as introduced on March 5, 2009. The Committee adopted by a voice vote 

a manager’s amendment offered by Mr. Waxman to the bill. The 

full Committee subsequently agreed to order H.R. 1319 favorably 

reported to the House, amended, by a voice vote. 

COMMITTEE VOTES

Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. A motion by Mr. 

Waxman to order H.R. 1319 favorably reported to the House, 

amended, was agreed to by a voice vote. There were no recorded 

votes taken during consideration and passage of H.R. 1319. 

STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 2(b)(1) 

of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the oversight findings and recommendations of the Committee are reflected 

in the descriptive portions of this report. 

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX

EXPENDITURES

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the estimate 

of budget authority and revenues regarding H.R. 1319 prepared by 

the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 


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402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The Committee finds 

that H.R. 1319 would result in no new or increased entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or revenues. 

STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the performance goals and objectives of 

the Committee are reflected in the descriptive portions of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee must include a statement citing 

the specific powers granted to Congress to enact the law proposed 

by H.R. 1319. Article I, section 8, clauses 3 and 18 of the Constitution of the United States grants the Congress the power to enact 

this law. 

EARMARKS AND TAX AND TARIFF BENEFITS

H.R. 1319 does not include any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule 

XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish or 

authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within the 

definition of 5 U.S.C. App., section 5(b) of the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act. 

APPLICABILITY OF LAW TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104–1 requires a description of 

the application of this bill to the legislative branch where the bill 

relates to terms and conditions of employment or access to public 

services and accommodations. 

H.R. 1319 prohibits developers of covered file-sharing programs 

from installing, or making available for installation or downloading, a covered-file sharing program without first providing consumers with notice that the program allows files on the consumer’s 

computer to be searched and copied. This bill does not relate to employment or access to public services and accommodations in the 

legislative branch. 

FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (as amended by section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, P.L. 104–4) requires a statement on whether the 

provisions of the report include unfunded mandates. In compliance 

with this requirement the Committee adopts as its own the estimated of federal mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office. 

COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the cost estiVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:52 Dec 12, 2009 Jkt 089006 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR361.XXX HR361

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mate of H.R. 1319 prepared by the Director of the Congressional 

Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act 

of 1974. 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of 

the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the 

Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect to requirements 

of clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the 

Committee has received the following cost estimate for H.R. 1319 

from the Director of Congressional Budget Office: 

OCTOBER 19, 2009. 

Hon. HENRY A. WAXMAN, 

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1319, the Informed P2P 

User Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susan Willie. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1319—Informed P2P User Act 

H.R. 1319 would place new notification requirements on companies that develop or distribute software that allows files to be 

shared between computers. Specifically, the bill would require such 

companies to provide clear notice that file-sharing capability is 

being installed on a computer. Further, prior to activation of the 

file-sharing function, the bill would require companies to specify 

which files would be made available for sharing and obtain the 

user’s consent before the files would be made available to be 

shared. The bill also would make it unlawful to prevent a user of 

the software from disabling or removing the file-sharing capability. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would be required to develop 

regulations to impose those requirements and to enforce the new 

restrictions. 

Based on information from the FTC, CBO estimates that imple- menting H.R. 1319 would cost about $1 million annually over the 

2010–2014 period, assuming availability of the necessary amounts. 

The additional costs would be incurred to develop and enforce the 

notification requirements. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1319 

could increase federal revenues from additional civil penalties assessed for violations of the new regulations. We estimate that any 

additional revenues would not be significant because of the relatively small number of cases expected to be involved. Enacting the 

bill would not affect direct spending. 

H.R. 1319 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect 

the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The bill would impose private-sector mandates as defined in 

UMRA. It would require companies that develop or distribute softVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:52 Dec 12, 2009 Jkt 089006 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR361.XXX HR361

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ware that allows files to be shared between computers to provide 

certain features that give the user control over various functions of 

the software. 

Based on information from industry sources, CBO expects the 

mandates in the bill would require only marginal changes in such 

software, which would impose minimal costs. Consequently, CBO 

estimates that the cost of the mandates would fall well below the 

annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates 

($139 million in 2009, adjusted annually for inflation. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Susan Willie (for 

federal costs) and Sam Wice (for the private-sector impact). The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 provides that the short title of H.R. 1319 is the ‘‘Informed P2P User Act’’ 

Section 2. Conduct prohibited 

Subparagraph 2(a)(1)(A) requires that if a covered entity installs 

a covered file-sharing program, or makes that program available 

for installation or downloading, that file-sharing program must provide clear and conspicuous notice prior to installation or downloading that the program allows files on the computer to be made 

available for searching and copying to other computers. Subparagraph (A) further requires that following such notice, the file-sharing program must then obtain the owner or authorized user’s informed consent to the installation or downloading of the program. 

Subparagraph 2(a)(1)(B) requires notice to be provided and consent obtained a second time. Specifically, the file-sharing program 

must provide clear and conspicuous notice of which files on the 

user’s computer are to be made available for searching and copying 

prior to the initial activation of a file-sharing function of the program. The program must then obtain the informed consent from 

the owner or authorized user of the computer for such files to be 

made available for searching and copying to another computer. 

Pursuant to this subparagraph, notice must be provided, and consent must be obtained, only the first time the file-sharing function 

of a covered file-sharing program is activated on a protected computer; and does not include subsequent uses of the program on that 

protected computer. 

Paragraph 2(a)(2) provides that the requirement for notice and 

consent prior to initial installation or downloading of a covered filesharing program does not apply to the installation of a covered filesharing program on a computer prior to the first sale of such computer to an end user. Notice must, however, be provided to the end 

user who first purchases the computer that a covered file-sharing 

program has been installed on the computer. This notice should be 

clear and conspicuous and serve the purpose of alerting the consumer that covered file-sharing software already is installed on the 

computer and such software may make files on that computer 

available for searching and copying by other computers. The notice 

and consent requirements of Subparagraph 2(a)(1)(B) that apply 


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prior to the initial activation of a file-sharing function, however, 

still apply to such software. This paragraph acknowledges the fact 

that for preinstalled software the consumer does not take any affirmative step to install or download the software, thus there is no 

reasonable opportunity for the covered entity to provide notice and 

obtain consent prior to installation. 

Subparagraph 2(b)(1) prohibits a covered entity from preventing 

a consumer’s reasonable efforts to block the installation of a covered file-sharing program or file-sharing function thereof. Thus, it 

would be unlawful for a covered entity to install a covered file-sharing program on a consumer’s computer through any practice or 

mechanism that is designed to circumvent security or other settings enabled by the consumer. 

Subparagraph 2(b)(2) prohibits a covered entity from preventing 

a consumer from having a reasonable means to either (A) disable 

from the consumer’s computer any covered file-sharing program or 

(B) remove from the consumer’s computer any covered file-sharing 

program that is installed on that computer. This provision is intended to prohibit covered entities from employing tactics that 

make their programs difficult to remove. For example, practices 

such as installing multiple copies of a program to avoid permanent 

deletion, constantly changing file name or file location to escape detection, or reinstalling automatically without the user’s intervention after a program has been removed would violate this provision. 

The Committee recognizes that software development is a highly 

innovative field, and does not seek to impose specific design requirements on software that may prove to be inappropriate in some 

circumstances or unduly burdensome. Rather, paragraph (2) is intended to prohibit those practices designed to frustrate a consumer’s effort to prevent a covered file-sharing program from being 

installed in the first place or from easily disabling or removing 

such a program after it has been installed. 

Section 3. Enforcement 

Section 3 provides for enforcement by the FTC and establishes 

that a violation of section 2 shall be treated as an unfair act or 

practice in violation of a regulation under section 18 of the FTC 

Act. 

Section 4. Definitions 

Paragraph (1) defines the term ‘‘commercial entity’’ to mean an 

entity engaged in acts or practices in commerce, as commerce is defined in section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. 

Paragraph (2) defines a ‘‘covered entity’’ to include a commercial 

entity that develops a covered file-sharing program and a commercial entity that disseminates or distributes a covered file-sharing 

program and is owned or operated by the commercial entity that 

developed the program. Entities that merely disseminate, distribute, or otherwise make covered file-sharing software available 

to the public, but are not owned or operated by the entity that developed the program, are not required to comply with the provisions of this Act. In addition, individuals who develop or modify a 

covered file-sharing program for personal use or who do not profit 

from such activities also are not covered, as they are not commercial entities. 


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Paragraph (3) defines the term ‘‘protected computer’’ to have the 

same meaning as the term in section 1030(e)(2) of title 18, United 

States Code. 

Paragraph (4) defines the term ‘‘covered file-sharing program’’ to 

mean a program, application, or software commercially marketed 

or distributed to the public that satisfies all the requirements set 

forth in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii). 

Pursuant to clause (i), the program must enable files on the computer on which it is installed to be designated as available for 

searching and copying to one or more other computers. This is satisfied if the user of the computer takes an affirmative action to designate files for searching and copying or if the program automatically initiates some action to designate files or folders for searching 

and copying by other computers. 

Clause (ii) requires that the program enables files on the computer on which the program is installed to be searched and copied 

by other computers. In this case, the searching and copying is done 

at the initiative of the other computer without requiring any action 

by the owner of the computer on which the program is installed. 

Finally, clause (iii) provides that the program allows the owner 

of the computer on which the program is installed to search files 

on other computers using the same or compatible file-sharing program. 

Paragraph (4)(B) specifically excludes certain programs, applications, and software from the definition. There are many kinds of 

distributed computing applications that are not intended to be covered by H.R. 1319, ranging from peer-to-peer technologies used internal to a corporate enterprise to cloud computing. 

EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS

During markup by the full Committee, Chairman Waxman offered a manager’s amendment in the nature of a substitute. The 

manager’s amendment narrows the definition of a covered file-sharing program to avoid sweeping in legitimate technologies that are 

unrelated to the problem of inadvertent file-sharing, such as Web 

servers, e-mail, instant messaging, and computer security software. 

The manager’s amendment also adds a new definition for ‘‘covered 

entity’’ that limits liability under the bill only to those commercial 

entities that develop a covered file-sharing program or distribute a 

covered file-sharing program and are owned or operated by a developer. 

The manager’s amendment clarifies that it is unlawful for a covered entity to ‘‘install on a protected computer or offer or make 

available for installation or download’’ a covered file-sharing program unless the program makes the required disclosures. Under 

the manager’s amendment, the requirement for notice prior to installation does not apply to software installed prior to the initial 

sale of a computer if notice that a covered file-sharing program has 

been installed is otherwise provided in some form. 

Finally, the manager’s amendment provides the FTC with discretionary rulemaking authority and clarifies that the bill does not 

apply to the federal government. 


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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

There are no changes in existing federal law made by the bill, 

as reported. 

Æ 


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