Lawmakers Re-Exmaine Internet...HAHAHAHAHA

May 2009

Lawmakers to re-examine Internet-sharing software. A House committee is reopening its investigation of Internet services that let computer users distribute music and movies online amid reports the same software was exploited to gain unauthorized access to government and private data. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent letters Monday to the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission and The Lime Group, which runs LimeWire, a popular file-sharing service. The letters sought information about any such breaches and what the current administration and company are doing to protect against them. Asked about the renewed investigation, a LimeWire spokeswoman responded, “We at LimeWire understand that Internet safety is paramount, and we strive to offer peer-to-peer’s most secure technology.” She said the company had worked with other P2P providers and regulators to develop and implement protections, including changes in default settings; file-sharing controls; shared folder configurations; and sensitive-file-type restrictions. “Our newest version, LimeWire 5.0, by default, does not share sensitive file types such as spreadsheets or documents,” she said. “In fact, the software does not share any file or directory without explicit permission from the user.”