Chairman Waxman, along with a bipartisan group of 18 other committee members, urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate recent disclosures regarding inadvertent file sharing over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and to take steps to ensure that potential risks posed by P2P networks are incorporated into the Commission’s ongoing efforts to combat identity theft.

In order to assist the Committee with its ongoing investigation into the risks posed by P2P networks, Chairman Waxman and his colleagues requested information from the FTC by November 1, 2007, about the agency’s activity in this area, its role in protecting sensitive information and whether the agency plans to incorporate information about P2P file sharing into its efforts to combat identity theft. The Committee also asked the FTC whether it has followed up with leading P2P distributors to ensure that consumers are being made aware of the risks associated with file sharing.