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October 18, 2007, 03:48 PM ET
Lawmakers Ask FTC to Investigate Peer-to-Peer Networks
An influential group of lawmakers yesterday asked the Federal Trade Commission to take a tougher stance against identity theft on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.
During testimony at a House of Representatives hearing this summer, commission officials said they considered peer-to-peer file sharing to be only as dangerous as other online activities, like Web surfing and instant messaging. But 19 members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held the hearing, apparently disagree. In a letter to Deborah Platt Majoras, the commission’s chairwoman, the lawmakers argue that “inadvertent file sharing” has left sensitive data like personal bank records and tax forms floating around peer-to-peer networks.
“Although we recognize that P2P networks have the potential to deliver innovative and lawful applications that will enhance business and academic endeavors,” the letter reads, “these networks must also be used in a way that protects sensitive government, personal, and corporate information and copyright laws. In our view, the [commission] should play an important role towards that end.”
The lawmakers made no specific mention of campus file sharing. But if the commission does end up examining issues of identity theft and peer-to-peer networking, college network supervisors may want to pay attention. —Brock Read
Categories: Security, Legal-Troubles
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