Has lingering concerns that it makes unsuspecting users vulnerable to identity theft.
A number of Congressman have signed onto a proposal submitted to the FTC asking for it to “investigate promptly recent disclosures regarding inadvertent file sharing over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and to take steps to ensure that potential risks posed by P2P networks are incorporated into the Commission’s ongoing efforts to combat identity theft.”
Now government’s always get their way best when they are able to scare the populace into believing that what they have to say is true. In this case it’s that P2P and file-sharing networks are bad for consumers and its because people may be vulnerable to data and identity theft.
Nevermind that these users should be to blame for not setting up these programs correctly and are probably the same ones that fail to password encrypt their Wi-Fi setups, we need Congress to do that which many people people are apparently too lazy or ignorant to do on their own.
I think it’s all bunch of smoke and mirrors personally, that it’s part of a hidden agenda by Reps Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and others to hand the RIAA and MPAA another hallow victory in their war on file-sharing.
It was just earlier this year that Waxman and Tom Davis (R-Va.) tried to say that P2P and file-sharing networks pose a threat to our very national security. What was so funny about this concern is what Limewire CEO Mark Gorton pointed out in testimony before Congress on the issue. He noted that the leaking of classified and sensitive national security data over P2P and file-sharing networks should be secondary to the concern that they are even on a home PC in the first place, or more importantly on a govt PC.
What’s even more telling in their proposal is that it also speaks of the need for the FTC to play important role i the defense of copyright laws. It reads:
Although we recognize that P2P networks have the potential to deliver innovative and lawful applications that will enhance business and academic endeavors, reduce transaction costs, and increase available bandwidth, these networks must also be used in a way that protects sensitive government, personal, and corporate information and copyright laws. In our view, the FTC should play an important role towards that end.
See how they manage to slip in “copyright laws” and how the FTC should play an “important role” in them in addition to identity theft which is what the whole proposal is supposed to really be about?
The letter than poses a question to the FTC in the following
l. Does the FTC still consider the risks posed by P2P file sharing to be similar to “other Internet-related activities such as surfing web sites, using search engines, downloading software and using e-mail or instant messaging?”
a. If so, please explain how these risks are similar.
b. If not, please explain how the agency plans to protect consumers from the
enhanced risks of utilizing P2P file sharing programs.
The bottom line is that is the FTC the one we really need to protect consumers from inadvertent file-sharing or should it be the software developers themselves?
I think it’s just way of trying to beat file-sharing by having the government make it as difficult as possible to actually share anything.
Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
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Limewire: ‘Congress Should Make ISPs Filter Copyrighted Content’
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uTorrent – A Beginner’s guide to BitTorrent downloading
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News Tip? Comment? Suggestion? jared@zeropaid.com
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Oh PULESE!! Congress cannot even get the US out of Iraq or balance the budget….maybe those two things AT LEAST should be higher on their agenda than p2p networks! Idiots.
The logic used here is the same one that says that having free speech and privacy promotes terrorism. Personal responsibility for Health Care but not for file sharing? What a screwed up country!