I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5684 

To prohibit employers from compelling or coercing any person to authorize 

access to a protected computer, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2012 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. COOPER, Mrs. 

CAPPS, Mr. KISSELL, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

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

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Password Protection 

5 Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITED ACTIVITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1030(a) of title 18, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (7)(C), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after 

2 the semicolon; and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7)(C) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(8) acting as an employer, knowingly and in6 tentionally— 

7 ‘‘(A) for the purposes of employing, pro8 moting, or terminating employment, compels or 

9 coerces any person to authorize access, such as 

10 by providing a password or similar information 

11 through which a computer may be accessed, to 

12 a protected computer that is not the employer’s 

13 protected computer, and thereby obtains infor14 mation from such protected computer; or 

15 ‘‘(B) discharges, disciplines, discriminates 

16 against in any manner, or threatens to take any 

17 such action against, any person— 

18 ‘‘(i) for failing to authorize access de19 scribed in subparagraph (A) to a protected 

20 computer that is not the employer’s pro21 tected computer; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) who has filed any complaint or 

23 instituted or caused to be instituted any 

24 proceeding under or related to this paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:07 May 13, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5684.IH H5684

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1 graph, or has testified or is about to testify 

2 in any such proceeding;’’. 

3 (b) FINE.—Section 1030(c) of title 18, United States 

4 Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (4)(G)(ii), by striking the pe6 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(5) a fine under this title, in the case of an 

9 offense under subsection (a)(8) or an attempt to 

10 commit an offense punishable under this para11 graph.’’. 

12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1030(e) of title 18, 

13 United States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

15 the semicolon; 

16 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period 

17 and inserting a semicolon; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(13) the term ‘employee’ means an employee, 

20 as such term is defined in section 201(2) of the Ge21 netic Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

22 2000ff(2)); 

23 ‘‘(14) the term ‘employer’ means an employer, 

24 as such term is defined in such section 201(2); and 


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1 ‘‘(15) the term ‘employer’s protected computer’ 

2 means a protected computer of the employer, includ3 ing any protected computer owned, operated, or oth4 erwise controlled by, for, or on behalf of that em5 ployer.’’. 

6 (d) EXCEPTIONS.—Section 1030(f) of title 18, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘(f) This’’ and inserting ‘‘(f)(1) 

9 This’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2)(A) Nothing in subsection (a)(8) shall be con12 strued to limit the authority of a court of competent juris13 diction to grant equitable relief in a civil action, if the 

14 court determines that there are specific and articulable 

15 facts showing that there are reasonable grounds to believe 

16 that the information sought to be obtained is relevant and 

17 material to protecting the intellectual property, a trade se18 cret, or confidential business information of the party 

19 seeking the relief. 

20 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(8), the prohibi21 tion in such subsection shall not apply to an employer’s 

22 actions if— 

23 ‘‘(i) the employer discharges or otherwise dis24 ciplines an individual for good cause and an activity 

25 protected under subsection (a)(8) is not a motivating 


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1 factor for the discharge or discipline of the indi2 vidual; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a State enacts a law that specifically 

4 waives subsection (a)(8) with respect to a particular 

5 class of State government employees or employees 

6 who work with individuals under 13 years of age, 

7 and the employer’s action relates to an employee in 

8 such class; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) an Executive agency (as defined in section 

10 105 of title 5), a military department (as defined in 

11 section 102 of such title), or any other entity within 

12 the executive branch that comes into the possession 

13 of classified information, including the Defense In14 telligence Agency, National Security Agency, and 

15 National Reconnaissance Office, specifically waives 

16 subsection (a)(8) with respect to a particular class 

17 of employees requiring eligibility for access to classi18 fied information under Executive Order 12968 (60 

19 Fed. Reg. 40245), or any successor thereto, and the 

20 employer’s action relates to an employee in such 

21 class.’’. 

Æ 


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