The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection recently heard discussions related to H.R. 1319, "The Informed P2P User Act."
Specifically, the bill aims to put a clear warning label on all P2P programs warning users that their personal information, including health records and tax information, could be unknowingly shared through the program.
"In the past, we have tried to rely on voluntary self-regulation, and it has failed," Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property, Progress & Freedom Foundation's Thomas Snydor said in a statement. "Unfortunately, in the context of distributors of file sharing programs used mostly for unlawful purposes, voluntary self-regulation has been tried, it has failed miserably in the past, and I can report that it is failing again right now."
P2P program LimeWire, though all P2P programs would get the label, has been under fire due to witness testimonies that users mistakenly shared personal information through the program without their knowledge.
I think anyone who installs a P2P program on their PC should expect that nothing on their hard drive is secure -- though it's a bit different if the information is unknowingly shared without a user's knowledge. However, is this really a political matter that lawmakers should waste time dealing with?
Doesn't the USA have other, more important issues that should be given priority attention at the moment?
