House passes bill forcing agencies to guard against file-sharing programs

House lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill designed to protect government computers from the detrimental effects of file-sharing programs.

The measure, H.R. 3159, would require federal agencies to develop and implement plans to address threats that peer-to-peer (P2P) software poses to computer systems.

"The federal government uses and stores a wide variety of classified and sensitive information vital to public health [on their networks]," Virginia Republican Tom Davis said. "Installing [file-sharing] programs on government computers allows this sensitive information to be exposed to the public."

Davis and bill sponsor Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said computers with the programs can enable users to access such personal information as completed tax returns, medical records or e-mail inboxes.

"It's not difficult to safeguard [computers], but many of our federal agencies have yet to follow suit," Waxman said. "This act ... protects the ability of federal agencies to pursue new technologies."