[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3074 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3074
To prohibit employers from compelling or coercing any person to
authorize access to a protected computer, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 9, 2012
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Wyden,
Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Akaka, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit employers from compelling or coercing any person to
authorize access to a protected computer, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Password Protection Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITED ACTIVITY.
(a) In General.--Section 1030(a) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (7)(C), by inserting ``or'' after the
semicolon; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7)(C) the following:
``(8) acting as an employer, knowingly and intentionally--
``(A) for the purposes of employing, promoting, or
terminating employment, compels or coerces any person
to authorize access, such as by providing a password or
similar information through which a computer may be
accessed, to a protected computer that is not the
employer's protected computer, and thereby obtains
information from such protected computer; or
``(B) discharges, disciplines, discriminates
against in any manner, or threatens to take any such
action against, any person--
``(i) for failing to authorize access
described in subparagraph (A) to a protected
computer that is not the employer's protected
computer; or
``(ii) who has filed any complaint or
instituted or caused to be instituted any
proceeding under or related to this paragraph,
or has testified or is about to testify in any
such proceeding;''.
(b) Fine.--Section 1030(c) of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)(G)(ii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) a fine under this title, in the case of an offense
under subsection (a)(8) or an attempt to commit an offense
punishable under this paragraph.''.
(c) Definitions.--Section 1030(e) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period and inserting
a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) the term `employee' means an employee, as such term
is defined in section 201(2) of the Genetic Information
Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff(2));
``(14) the term `employer' means an employer, as such term
is defined in such section 201(2); and
``(15) the term `employer's protected computer' means a
protected computer of the employer, including any protected
computer owned, operated, or otherwise controlled by, for, or
on behalf of that employer.''.
(d) Exceptions.--Section 1030(f) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) by striking ``(f) This'' and inserting ``(f)(1) This'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2)(A) Nothing in subsection (a)(8) shall be construed to limit
the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction to grant equitable
relief in a civil action, if the court determines that there are
specific and articulable facts showing that there are reasonable
grounds to believe that the information sought to be obtained is
relevant and material to protecting the intellectual property, a trade
secret, or confidential business information of the party seeking the
relief.
``(B) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(8), the prohibition in such
subsection shall not apply to an employer's actions if--
``(i) the employer discharges or otherwise disciplines an
individual for good cause and an activity protected under
subsection (a)(8) is not a motivating factor for the discharge
or discipline of the individual;
``(ii) a State enacts a law that specifically waives
subsection (a)(8) with respect to a particular class of State
government employees or employees who work with individuals
under 13 years of age, and the employer's action relates to an
employee in such class; or
``(iii) an Executive agency (as defined in section 105 of
title 5), a military department (as defined in section 102 of
such title), or any other entity within the executive branch
that comes into the possession of classified information,
including the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security
Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office, specifically waives
subsection (a)(8) with respect to a particular class of
employees requiring eligibility for access to classified
information under Executive Order 12968 (60 Fed. Reg. 40245),
or any successor thereto, and the employer's action relates to
an employee in such class.''.
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