New anti-P2P laws loom
p2pnet news | security:- With a Federal Trade Commission statement that p2p file sharing technology can be risky ringing loudly in the background, “Politicians charged on Tuesday that peer-to-peer networks can pose a ‘national security threat’ because they enable federal employees to share sensitive or classified documents accidentally from their computers,” says CNET News.
The FTC assertion came during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing and committee chairman Henry Waxman (right) says he’s now considering, “new laws aimed at addressing the problem,” says the story.
“He said he was troubled by the possibility that foreign governments, terrorists or organized crime could gain access to documents that reveal national secrets.”
At the same hearing, LimeWire boss Mark Gorton was singled out for, “allegedly harming national security through offering his product,” says CNET, going on:
Not at all coincidentally, StreamCast Networks, owners of Morpheus, one of the few survivors of the anti-file sharing, anti-P2P application pogrom launched by Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, says it has a plan to, “further address the concerns” expressed during the hearing.
It says it’s launched a new national campaign which, “encourages and reminds users of file-sharing software to share responsibly”.
Waxman, meanwhile, “noted that he was not seeking to ban peer-to-peer networks this time around but rather to ‘achieve a balance that protects sensitive government, personal and corporate information and copyright laws’,” says CNET, adding:
“Mary Koelbel Engle, the associate director for advertising practices in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said her agency has found in its studies of peer-to-peer network use that risks to sensitive information, ’stem largely from how individuals use the technology rather than being inherent in the technology itself’.”
The Morpheus ‘Share Responsibly’ campaign, “aims to better inform users who might be carelessly and inadvertently sharing personal documents such as tax returns or that government or corporate employees might be haphazardly using file-sharing software for personal use, thus unwittingly making sensitive or even classified information available if they haphazardly designate what files and folders are available for sharing, despite many clear instructions and warnings about this that currently exists within Morpheus,” says StreamCast, adding:
“Additionally, users will be alerted with a message during the install process of the software that informs them with greater information on which folders and files are being shared while providing users with easy options to edit these folders.”
Also See:
ringing loudly – Pp2p file sharing ‘risky’ says FTC, July 25, 2007
CNET News – Congress: P2P networks harm national security, , July 24, 2007
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July 25th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
“Politicians charged on Tuesday that e-mail programs, Windows Messenger, blogs, chat rooms, and internet connections can pose a ‘national security threat’ because they enable federal employees to share sensitive or classified documents accidentally from their computers,” says CNET News.
Ya know, if they would just be straight about what their greedy little agendas really are and not hide behind jingoistic tripe like ‘national security threat’ I would not have quite such an instant gag reflex. I might not agree or like what they are spouting on any given day but at least I wouldn’t feel insulted and totally distrustful of them. I’m sick to death of being treated like an idiot by politicians who act like idiots.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
They shouldn’t be using government computers in the first place. If you do that you are asking for nothing but trouble. Can’t these people just wait until they get home or somewhere they can use a personal laptop. Just total stupidity.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:03 am
“He said he was troubled by the possibility that foreign governments, terrorists or organized crime could gain access to documents that reveal national secrets.”
That can be done even over old FTP, so bullshit! It’s like claiming the more efficient a communications system is, the more dangerous it is, so let’s go back to the stone age so that we can all be as safe as possible.