Secure Federal File Sharing Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Secure Federal File Sharing Act | |
|---|---|
| United States Congress | |
| Enacted by | House of Representatives |
| Enacted by | Senate |
| Legislative history | |
| First chamber: House of Representatives | |
| Bill title | H.R. 4098 |
| Introduced by | Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY10) |
| Introduced | November 17, 2009, 111th United States Congress |
| Committee report | H. Report 111-431 |
| Related legislation | |
| S. 3484 | |
The Secure Federal File Sharing Act, also known as H.R. 4098, was a bill that has been under review by the United States Senate since March 25, 2010. The legislation originated in the U.S. House of Representatives on November 17, 2009, as a part of the 111th Congress. The bill sought to impose additional restrictions and requirements regarding the use of peer-to-peer filesharing by employees of and contractors to the United States government.
The bill passed in the House of Representatives by a roll call vote on March 24, 2010, and has been referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.[1] It was not approved by the Senate and died with the sine die adjournment of the 111th Congress.
The Secure Federal File Sharing Act was proposed in response to leaks of highly sensitive United States government information (which includes a list of ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation, information about U.S. military programs and troops, and wiring schematics for a Marine One helicopter[2]) found on various filesharing programs in early 2009.[3][4]
The proposed act sought to limit the use of open-network peer-to-peer filesharing by government employees and contractors by official permission.[5] Restrictions would not only apply to federal computer systems and networks but also to home and personal computers of employees. Under the Act, the heads or chief information officers of agencies must request and receive permission before employees can use specific peer-to-peer filesharing programs for job-related tasks.[6]
The proposed Secure Federal File Sharing Act sought to establish a policy that would require, within 180 days of its enactment, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget must update agency policies to comply with the act (which includes the implementation of security controls to prevent, detect, and remove file sharing software from federal computers, systems, and networks within this time frame). Additionally, the act would require the Director to give annual reports on agencies that use filesharing programs and the justification for each use.[6] The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the administration of the law will cost a total of $10 million dollars over the 2011–2014 U.S. fiscal years,[7] or $0.09 per American citizen over this three-year period.[8]