Congress must seem to think that they are on a role when it comes to technology issues; first they wanted to scrutinize the Google/DoubleClick merger, then they took an interest in the iPhone and it’s exclusive contract, and how they’re coming after P2P as a possible threat to national security. However, unlike the first two high profile issues, their current crusade is just stupid; in fact, it’s downright shameful.

What would any rational entity do if they noticed that their sensitive data is being leaked to P2P networks? They would most certainly not do what Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Representative Tom Davis are currently doing, which is blame the P2P networks for leaking national secrets to potential terrorists. During the hearings, Mark Gorton, the chairman of LimeWire, was actually accused of harming national security by offering his P2P product. Waxman even mentioned that he’s thinking about proposing laws to regulate peer-to-peer file sharing. Oh boy.

According to Ars Technica, Waxman stated that his intent was not to “shutdown P2P networks or bash P2P technology,” but to determine if such applications as Limewire create an “unacceptable risk for consumers, corporations, and government” entities. He went on to say that they conducted a few simple searches with LimeWire, the most popular P2P client, and found “personal bank records and tax forms, attorney-client communications, the corporate strategies of Fortune 500 companies, confidential corporate accounting documents, internal documents from political campaigns, government emergency response plans, and even military operation orders.”

LimeWire isn’t the one creating the “unacceptable risk,” it’s the foolish employees who do so. In no way, whatsoever, is it the fault of LimeWire, and other such programs, that the average government stooge is woefully uneducated when it comes to the proper use of a computer. The problem lies with those handling the computers and the sensitive information on them, not with the P2P programs.

Anyone who installs LimeWire is explicitly told that any information in the shared folder will be accessible to anyone on the network. And it’s not like this folder is names “My Shared Documents” or anything like that either. So, how bloody stupid would you have to be to place sensitive information in this folder?

Why isn’t Congress assailing the governmental IT departments of the various agencies critical to the maintenance of national security for even allowing users to install third-party, unauthorized software in the first place? Any network that has information on it sensitive enough to potentially harm an entire nation should simply not have direct access to the outside world, and should be locked down so tight that every mouse movement and keystroke is carefully scrutinized and logged.

The fact that Mark Gorton was even called in to testify, clearly shows how absolutely clueless the members of Congress are when it comes to the Internet. Their ignorance is downright infuriating. Instead of places the blame on P2P technology, they should spend their time passing legislation demanding that employees have a minimum degree of computer knowledge and security awareness.