I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2277 
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 12, 2015 
Mr. PERLMUTTER (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. RUSH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
RANGEL, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. CAPPS, and Mr. SCHWEIKERT) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To prohibit employers from compelling or coercing any per-
son to authorize access to a protected computer, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Password Protection 
Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITED ACTIVITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1030(a) of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (7)(C), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after 
the semicolon; and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7)(C) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(8) acting as an employer, knowingly and in-
tentionally— 
‘‘(A) for the purposes of employing, pro-
moting, 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 infor-
mation 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 de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) to a protected 
computer that is not the employer’s pro-
tected computer; or 
‘‘(ii) who has filed any complaint or 
instituted or caused to be instituted any 
proceeding under or related to this para-
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graph, 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 pe-
riod 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 para-
graph.’’. 
(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 Ge-
netic 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 
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‘‘(15) the term ‘employer’s protected computer’ 
means a protected computer of the employer, includ-
ing any protected computer owned, operated, or oth-
erwise controlled by, for, or on behalf of that em-
ployer.’’. 
(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 com-
petent jurisdiction to grant equitable relief in a civil 
action, if the court determines that there are specific 
and articulable facts showing that there are reason-
able grounds to believe that the information sought 
to be obtained is relevant and material to protecting 
the intellectual property, a trade secret, or confiden-
tial business information of the party seeking the re-
lief. 
‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(8), the 
prohibition in such subsection shall not apply to an 
employer’s actions if— 
‘‘(i) the employer discharges or other-
wise disciplines an individual for good 
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cause and an activity protected under sub-
section (a)(8) is not a motivating factor for 
the discharge or discipline of the indi-
vidual; 
‘‘(ii) the employer is complying with 
the requirements of Federal or State law, 
rule or regulation, or a rule of a self-regu-
latory organization, as defined in section 
3(a)(26) of the Securities and Exchange 
Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(26)), appli-
cable to brokers, dealers and investment 
advisers; 
‘‘(iii) a State enacts a law that specifi-
cally waives subsection (a)(8) with respect 
to a particular class of State government 
employees or employees who work with in-
dividuals under 13 years of age, and the 
employer’s action relates to an employee in 
such class; or 
‘‘(iv) an Executive agency (as defined 
in section 105 of title 5), a military depart-
ment (as defined in section 102 of such 
title), or any other entity within the execu-
tive branch that comes into the possession 
of classified information, including the De-
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fense Intelligence Agency, National Secu-
rity Agency, and National Reconnaissance 
Office, specifically waives subsection (a)(8) 
with respect to a particular class of em-
ployees requiring eligibility for access to 
classified information under Executive 
Order 12968 (60 Fed. Reg. 40245), or any 
successor thereto, and the employer’s ac-
tion relates to an employee in such class.’’. 
Æ 
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