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 Geor-
gia, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, and Mr. SCHIFF) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
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 2012’’. 
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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