On Tue, 24 Sep 2002 12:15:36 -0700
Ben Rosenberg
It won't. But thing such as banking, online purchasing ..etc..etc. would be come more difficult because I am VERY sure they would have some server side query to see if you've got this piece of crap. And if the Open Source community made a fake out to fool these servers I'm sure someone would make it a crime and people would go to Jail. It would be up to RH, SuSE..or IBM to build this out for Linux and to pay for
The whole identification problem is going to have to be addressed sooner or later, especially since it will eventually be possible to vote in elections from your computer. I don't see why they don't put more emphasis on "REAL" identification techniques like "iris scans" or "thumbprints". What is to ensure that some "unauthorized person" isn't using the computer with your number on it, or what if you want to do some transaction from someone else's computer? As I gaze into my "crystal ball", this is what I see coming. You will have an "internet-connection-box" at the point of entry of the cable into your home or office. It will be legally sealed just like cable boxes. It will have the ability to stop certain "pay-for" digital content and allow normal content to pass unobstructed. This is where the Palladium chip belongs, property of the cable company, and their responsibility. Basically a digital firewall. Anyone caught connecting to the network, bypassing the firewall box, will be a criminal. If you want to do online e-commerce, your computer will need an "iris scanner". They will be cheap, and come in USB, SCSI, and paralell port models. When you order something, you will be asked to look into the eye-piece, to be identified. Everytime you renew your driver's license or ID card, your "iris scan" will be updated in the "big computer in the NSA's basement." Then the only argument will be about the government using the iris scans to locate people without their consent. You will need to have an iris scan to get on an airplane, get into a court room, stopped for a traffic violation, etc. You know this is coming. I was just watching a news broadcast, about people implanting "locater chips" in their children to protect them from kidnapping, but that is getting way OT. -- use Perl; #powerful programmable prestidigitation