Congress: P2P networks harm national security
 

This made for a good laugh :1orglaugh


http://news.com.com/Congress+P2P+net...?tag=nefd.lede

WASHINGTON--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.

At a hearing on the topic, Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said, without offering details, that he is considering new laws aimed at addressing the problem. He said he was troubled by the possibility that foreign governments, terrorists or organized crime could gain access to documents that reveal national secrets.
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Politicians call peer-to-peer networks a "national security threat" because they enable federal employees to accidentally share sensitive or classified documents.
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The chairman of the House Government Reform Committee said he is considering new laws aimed at addressing the problem.

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Also at the hearing, Mark Gorton, the chairman of Lime Wire, which makes the peer-to-peer software LimeWire, was assailed for allegedly harming national security through offering his product.

The documents at risk of exposure supposedly include classified government military orders, confidential corporate-accounting documents, localized terrorist threat assessments, as well as personal information such as federal workers' credit card numbers, bank statements, tax returns and medical records, according to recent studies by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and private researchers.

Evidence that sensitive information is accessible through peer-to-peer networks illustrates "the importance of strengthening the laws and rules protecting personal information held by federal agencies" and other organizations, said Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the committee's ranking member, who has sponsored a bill that would impose new requirements on government agencies that discover security breaches. "We need to do this quickly."

The politicians present Tuesday generally said they believe that there are benefits to peer-to-peer technology but that it will imperil national security, intrude on personal privacy and violate copyright law, if not properly restricted. Both Waxman and Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) dubbed P2P networks ongoing national security threats.

Congressional gripes about P2P networks are hardly new, and in the past, they have reinforced concerns raised by the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America. Four years ago, the same committee held a pair of hearings that condemned pornography sharing on P2P networks and also explored leaks of sensitive information. And throughout 2004, Congress considered multiple proposals that would have restricted--or effectively banned--many popular file-swapping networks. Waxman 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."

Uhm.. Uninstall?

What isn't a national security threat?

They're going to start making air and ocean water check in 10 miles before it reaches the coast!

that shouldn't be allowed on gov PCs that's what policy is for.

It would be great if they were able to do something about the p2p networks.

I don't find it quite as funny... looks to me like they're planning to take away liberties from civilians to make up for negligence on the part of government employees.

Yes i agree but there reason is funny you got to admit....



"because they enable federal employees to share sensitive or classified documents accidentally from their computers."

Yeah, you're right... it is funny. Scary too, though.

This is proof that if your lobbyist organization pays enough, they can make government officials sound like clueless tools.