HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

In a previous post, we discussed “The Secure Federal File Sharing Act” (H.R. 4098), a bill introduced in the House that was aimed to improve security in federal computing by barring federal employees and contractors from downloading, installing, or using peer-to-peer (P2P) software absent prior official approval.  The House ultimately passed this bill on March 24, 2010.  On June 14, 2010, Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Robert F. Bennett (R-UT) introduced a companion bill under the same name in the Senate (S. 3484).  This bill has been referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.  Continue Reading »

A highly classified house ethics committee report outlining inquiries involving dozens of members of Congress was recently leaked over the Internet after a junior committee staff member saved it on the hard drive of his home computer, on which he happened to have peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing software installed.  There is no evidence the staffer intended the report, which detailed investigations that included financial dealings, travel and campaign donations, to be shared with other P2P software users around the world.  But in an official attempt to combat such leaks, US Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), an avid critic of self-regulation of P2P software use, recently introduced a new bill titled The Secure Federal File Sharing Act.  Continue Reading »