[longtermmemmory]

Not so sure. My client list is my property. I own my list of names. If an employee uses my list for their own reason, that is theft as if they were taking my office furniture. It is a list of commonly linked people. That has value which was created by my efforts.

[HAL9000]

My client list is my property. I own my list of names. If an employee uses my list for their own reason, that is theft as if they were taking my office furniture.

Your rights to keep your list confidential should be protected by contract law - specifically, the employment contract. If your employee violates the contract and steals the list, you have the right to sue them now.

This proposed law goes far beyond that. It may be illegal to post sports scores or weather temperatures if DCIMA passes.

[TechJunkYard]

My client list is my property. I own my list of names.

So, copyright it. End of problem.

[adam_az]

Your client list is technically a "trade secret" in IP law terms, which means that you are responsible for protecting it by policy and technical procedural means in line with it's value to you. This can be in the form of access control safeguards, and in the form of contractual agreements with anyone who has access to it. If you don't exercise due care in this area, then you haven't acted as if it has any value to you, and thus have no protection.

I actually work in the field of Information Security, and I believe the status quo of laws is just fine. The proposed law is overly vague, and will only serve to enrich attorneys who will spend million$ wrangling over the definitions of terms.