II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3027 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2010 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

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. 

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 ‘‘P2P Cyber Protection 

5 and Informed User Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONDUCT PROHIBITED. 

7 (a) NOTICE AND CONSENT REQUIRED FOR FILE8 SHARING SOFTWARE.— 


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1 (1) NOTICE AND CONSENT REQUIRED PRIOR TO

2 INSTALLATION.—It is unlawful for any covered enti3 ty to install on a protected computer or offer or 

4 make available for installation or download on a pro5 tected computer a covered file-sharing program un6 less such program— 

7 (A) immediately prior to the installation or 

8 downloading of such program— 

9 (i) provides clear and conspicuous no10 tice that such program allows files on the 

11 protected computer to be made available 

12 for searching by and copying to one or 

13 more other computers; and 

14 (ii) obtains the informed consent to 

15 the installation of such program from an 

16 owner or authorized user of the protected 

17 computer; and 

18 (B) immediately prior to initial activation 

19 of a file-sharing function of such program— 

20 (i) provides clear and conspicuous no21 tice of which files on the protected com22 puter are to be made available for search23 ing by and copying to another computer; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) obtains the informed consent from 

2 an owner or authorized user of the pro3 tected computer for such files to be made 

4 available for searching and copying to an5 other computer. 

6 (2) NON-APPLICATION TO PRE-INSTALLED

7 SOFTWARE.—Nothing in paragraph (1)(A) shall 

8 apply to the installation of a covered file-sharing 

9 program on a computer prior to the first sale of 

10 such computer to an end user, provided that notice 

11 is provided to the end user who first purchases the 

12 computer that such a program has been installed on 

13 the computer. 

14 (3) NON-APPLICATION TO SOFTWARE UP15 GRADES.—Once the notice and consent requirements 

16 of paragraphs (1)(A) and (1)(B) have been satisfied 

17 with respect to the installation or initial activation 

18 of a covered file-sharing program on a protected 

19 computer after the effective date of this Act, the no20 tice and consent requirements of paragraphs (1)(A) 

21 and (1)(B) do not apply to the installation or initial 

22 activation of software modifications or upgrades to 

23 a covered file-sharing program installed on that pro24 tected computer at the time of the software modiVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:01 Feb 24, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027

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1 fications or upgrades so long as those software 

2 modifications or upgrades do not— 

3 (A) make files on the protected computer 

4 available for searching by and copying to one or 

5 more other computers that were not already 

6 made available by the covered file-sharing pro7 gram for searching by and copying to one or 

8 more other computers; or 

9 (B) add to the types or locations of files 

10 that can be made available by the covered file11 sharing program for searching by and copying 

12 to one or more other computers. 

13 (b) PREVENTING THE DISABLING OR REMOVAL OF

14 CERTAIN SOFTWARE.—It is unlawful for any covered enti15 ty— 

16 (1) to prevent the reasonable efforts of an 

17 owner or authorized user of a protected computer 

18 from blocking the installation of a covered file-shar19 ing program or file-sharing function thereof; or 

20 (2) to prevent an owner or authorized user of 

21 a protected computer from having a reasonable 

22 means to either— 

23 (A) disable from the protected computer 

24 any covered file-sharing program; or 


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1 (B) remove from the protected computer 

2 any covered file-sharing program that the cov3 ered entity caused to be installed on that com4 puter or induced another individual to install. 

5 (c) NON-APPLICATION TO INTELLIGENCE OR LAW

6 ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.—This section does not pro7 hibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or 

8 intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency of the 

9 United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a 

10 State, or of an intelligence agency of the United States. 

11 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 

12 (a) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRAC13 TICES.—A violation of section 2 shall be treated as a viola14 tion of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or prac15 tice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 

16 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

17 (b) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ENFORCE18 MENT.—The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this 

19 Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with 

20 the same jurisdiction as though all applicable terms and 

21 provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were in22 corporated into and made a part of this Act. 

23 (c) PRESERVATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE AU24 THORITY.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit 

25 or supersede any other Federal or State law. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COMMERCIAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘commer4 cial entity’’ means an entity engaged in acts or prac5 tices in or affecting commerce, as such term is de6 fined in section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission 

7 Act (15 U.S.C. 44). 

8 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en9 tity’’ means— 

10 (A) a commercial entity that develops a 

11 covered file-sharing program; and 

12 (B) a commercial entity that disseminates 

13 or distributes a covered file-sharing program 

14 and is owned or operated by the commercial en15 tity that developed the covered file-sharing pro16 gram. 

17 (3) COVERED FILE-SHARING PROGRAM.—The 

18 term ‘‘covered file-sharing program’’— 

19 (A) means a program, application, or soft20 ware that is commercially marketed or distrib21 uted to the public and that enables— 

22 (i) a file or files on the protected com23 puter on which such program is installed 

24 to be designated as available for searching 

25 by and copying to one or more other com26 puters owned by another person; 


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1 (ii) the searching of files on the pro2 tected computer on which such program is 

3 installed and the copying of any such file 

4 to a computer owned by another person— 

5 (I) at the initiative of such other 

6 computer and without requiring any 

7 action by an owner or authorized user 

8 of the protected computer on which 

9 such program is installed; and 

10 (II) without requiring an owner 

11 or authorized user of the protected 

12 computer on which such program is 

13 installed to have selected or des14 ignated a computer owned by another 

15 person as the recipient of any such 

16 file; and 

17 (iii) the protected computer on which 

18 such program is installed to search files on 

19 one or more other computers owned by an20 other person using the same or a compat21 ible program, application, or software, and 

22 to copy files from the other computer to 

23 such protected computer; and 

24 (B) does not include a program, applica25 tion, or software designed primarily to— 


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1 (i) operate as a server that is acces2 sible over the Internet using the Internet 

3 Domain Name system; 

4 (ii) transmit or receive e-mail mes5 sages, instant messaging, real-time audio 

6 or video communications, or real-time voice 

7 communications; or 

8 (iii) provide network or computer se9 curity, network management, hosting and 

10 backup services, maintenance, diagnostics, 

11 technical support or repair, or to detect or 

12 prevent fraudulent activities. 

13 (4) INITIAL ACTIVATION OF A FILE-SHARING

14 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘initial activation of a file15 sharing function’’ means— 

16 (A) the first time the file-sharing function 

17 of a covered file-sharing program is activated 

18 on a protected computer; and 

19 (B) does not include subsequent uses of 

20 the program on that protected computer. 

21 (5) PROTECTED COMPUTER.—The term ‘‘pro22 tected computer’’ has the meaning given such term 

23 in section 1030(e)(2) of title 18, United States 

24 Code. 


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1 SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 

2 The Federal Trade Commission may promulgate reg3 ulations under section 553 of title 5, United States Code 

4 to accomplish the purposes of this Act. In promulgating 

5 rules under this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall 

6 not require the deployment or use of any specific product 

7 or technology. 

Æ 


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