Chairman Set to Propose P2P Software Ban on Government, Contractor Computers and Networks

From what we heard today, it is clear that private citizens, businesses, and the government continue to be victims of unintentional and illicit file sharing.

At its best, with the proper safeguards in place, peer-to-peer software has great potential.

At its worst, it isn’t peer-to-peer; it’s predator-to-prey.

For our sensitive government information, the risk is simply too great to ignore. I am planning to introduce a bill to ban this type of insecure, open network, peer-to-peer software software from all government and contractor computers and networks.

I plan to meet with the new Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to request that the FTC investigate whether inadequate safeguards on file sharing software such as LimeWire constitute an unfair trade practice. The Administration should initiate a national campaign to educate consumers about the dangers involved with file sharing software. The FCC needs to look at this, too.

The file-sharing software industry has shown it is unwilling or unable to ensure user safety. It’s time to put a referee on the field.