Just when you think the dangers of file-sharing are slipping out of the headlines, those silly buggers pop right back onto the front page.

The latest on this front blared across the cover of The Washington Post this morning, with news that dozens of U.S. federal lawmakers are being investigated by the House Ethics Committee. How did this come about? A young staffer had a confidential file with him at home, was using peer-to-peer software, and, well, you know the rest. Soon the world could see the inner workings of multiple ethics investigations.

Now as someone who spent a decade as an investigative reporter, it’s revelations like this that make me drool with anticipation. And as someone who lives in the congressional district of one of those being investigated, I like knowing of this investigation. It can also forcefully be argued, as it can be argued with any ongoing investigation, that it ultimately is a disservice to have this information disclosed prematurely; it can jeopardize an important investigation.

What can’t be argued is that peer-to-peer file-sharing, architected to encourage sharing in order to fully utilize the “network effect” (the more that’s shared, the more network use will grow), continues to bring in files beyond copyrighted, infringing creative works, but also lots of super-sensitive stuff (to be all legally jargony about it).

Not too long ago U.S. Supreme Court Justice Breyer’s personal financial data traveled peer-to-peer networks because an investor he had hired was using software he shouldn’t have been. (That also made the front page of the Post, ably reported by ace reporter Brian Krebs.)

There has been study after study on the continued dangers posed to identity and financial security by peer-to-peer software, most recently made clear at a (in particular see the testimony by The Progress & Freedom Foundation’s Tom Sydnor).

A bill considered at that hearing, HR-1319, the Informed P2P User Act by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), recently cleared the U.S. House Commerce Committee. Essentially, the bill instructs the Federal Trade Commission to ensure users of P2P software are fully informed as to what they are sharing and consent to that sharing before the sharing occurs.

It will be interesting to see how this violation of the trust and rules of the U.S. House as a result of one careless file-sharer affects the future of HR-1319.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 8:05 am by Patrick Ross and is filed under FTC, capitol hill, p2p. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.