Calif. State Bill Would Require File-Swapper Name/Address on Shared Files

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 17, 2004 - 5:16am.

Los Angeles -- The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday reported on a new bill from Calif. State Sen. Kevin Murray (Culver City) that would require Californians who use file-sharing networks like Kazaa and BitTorrent to attach their real names and addresses to the files they place in their "shared" folder for upload by other users. Penalties for not labeling files would include fines of up to $2,500 and up to a year in jail. "Because the bills require Internet users to post personally identifying information, they fly directly in the face of policy goals and laws that prevent identity theft and spam and protect children and domestic violence victims," said Cindy Cohn, of digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "There's one way to maintain your privacy in my bill," Murray told The Times. "That is not to engage in illegal activity."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bill17mar17.story
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Anonymity/20040317_eff_pr.php