The US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) claims P2P threatens national security in a published report from its Office of International Relations.

USPTO director Jon Dudas said "A decade ago, the idea that copyright infringement could become a threat to national security would have seemed implausible. Now, it's a sad reality."

The report's main finding is the P2P programs can be used to inadvertently share files, an issue covered in 2005 by the US Federal Trade Commission. Specific features include redistribution where files that are downloaded are typically automatically shared and folder sharing where such sharing includes folders within the folder.

National security can be compromised when "government employees or contractors who had installed file-sharing programs on their home or work computers ... repeatedly compromised national and military security by sharing files containing sensitive or classified data."

The report admits "There will almost never be a legitimate business or governmental justification for employee use of file-sharing programs." But instead of placing responsibility on the employees who definitely are acting improperly by using file sharing software, the report blames software developers because their users may not be fully informed. Why?

Because Dudas is Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. His job isn't to protect national security. It's to help the entertainment industry protect their media.