By: Michael C

Michael C — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:55:42 +0000

Yes, it is true that some of the fault lies with the users clicking through without reading. In that case, H.R. 4098 will be useful in preventing government employees from using the programs in general. But, I think one can argue that the P2P programs now don’t really give “clear and conspicuous notice, in advance” about what folders, and especially, what files, will be shared. The folder selection screen that shows upon initial start-up has some default options selected, and it’s easy to just accept the defaults and click “next” without taking a closer look at what’s being shared. After that, no warnings are ever given. If there were a specific, informative warning that popped up saying “Please confirm that you want to share your documents folder, containing the files “taxreturn.pdf,” “Q1 2009 Report.doc,” etc., and possibly showing previews of some of the files, I think it would be more difficult for the casual user to accidentally share confidential information.

By: Logan M

Logan M — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:10:41 +0000

This actually seems incredibly useless if taken to the extreme that it seems it may be heading to. The fact that you uploaded a photo of LimeWire’s what-folders-do-you-want-to-share screen demonstrates that this is already in effect. I’d be fine with a law requiring all P2P programs to have such an alert and not to simply be able to access everything on the computer, but I do not know how LimeWire, for example, could do any more. The warnings are already there, and, as you point out, “it’s easy for a casual user to breeze through this dialogue”. The fault does not lie with the program, but with the users. I don’t see how increased regulation and mandates on the programs could make up for people not reading before they click.

Comments on: Leaking Through the Cracks

By: Michael C

By: Logan M