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[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>
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