encourage others to bring their expertise to bear on some of the questions that this report
leaves open. Examples of such questions might include the following:

· What is the overall prevalence of inadvertent sharing? It may be possible to

estimate the number of users who have recursively shared "C:\" or their "My
Documents" folder, but estimating the number of users inadvertently sharing
downloaded files or their "My Music" folder might be much more difficult.

· How can users of filesharing programs who do not want to upload files effectively

avoid the sort of coerced-sharing features discussed in this report?

· What are the best options for owners of home computers who want to avoid the

security and liability risks associated with filesharing programs?

Finally, I reviewed this report as both a father who manages a home computer and the
director of a Federal Agency that must protect the security of valuable electronic files and
data. It leads me to believe that I owe a debt of thanks not only to my colleagues at the
Department of Homeland Security, but also to two groups of persons.

First, I would like to thank all of the computer-science researchers who have studied
filesharing networks. They have done what scientists are supposed to do: Observed
carefully and reported what they found--both the good and the bad. Their reports bring
to the debate about filesharing objectivity and dispassion that has otherwise been lacking.

I would also like to thank the researchers, reporters, agencies, private citizens, and
information-security firms who worked for years to call attention to the persistent and
recurring problem of inadvertent sharing. Special thanks are owned the unnamed
Samaritan interviewed by CBS News, to the creator of the website See What You Share,
and to Dr. Howard Schmidt and the employees of Tiversa, Inc.

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