Bill > HB1124

This bill establishes the Right to Compute Act, a new legal framework in New Hampshire that protects individuals' rights to own and use computational resources for lawful purposes. The legislation recognizes that fundamental constitutional rights including property ownership, free expression, and privacy extend to technological tools and computational resources. The bill defines computational resources broadly, encompassing hardware, software, networks, algorithms, and other technologies used for processing, storing, and manipulating data. Government entities are prohibited from restricting the private ownership or use of computational resources unless they can demonstrate a compelling government interest that is absolutely necessary and narrowly tailored. Such compelling interests might include protecting critical infrastructure, preventing fraud, safeguarding minors from harmful synthetic content, or addressing physical infrastructure nuisances. The bill explicitly preserves intellectual property rights and does not preempt federal law. It also includes a severability clause, meaning that if any part of the act is found invalid, the rest of the act can still remain in effect. The legislation aims to protect technological innovation and personal technological freedoms while maintaining reasonable government oversight for public safety.

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https://gc.nh.gov/bill_Status/billinfo.aspx?id=1582&inflect=2