[IP] Paranoia and George Orwell
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 12, 2005 11:25:14 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, 'Ip Ip' <ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Hiawatha Bray <h_bray@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Paranoia and George Orwell
I was wondering about the cluelessness of those ads.
Remember that this is the same company that offered use "freedom from
choice" as the slogan for OS/2 (at least for a day or so until, I
presume, some adult showed and noticed the banner).
I think there's a similar ad for On-Star.
There's also the editorial from the "Progress and Freedom Foundation
(http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9589_22-5890967.html?
part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnet) which tells us why DRM via TPM
(Technical Protection Measures) is good for freedom. In one familiar
example it says that if a text book expires in four months then
that’s OK because if the provider can make more money by extending it
to a year then it will do so. Those aren’t the words used but that’s
how I read it. It’s free speech as long as we ask nicely – after all
why should we complain since no reasonable request will be refused
and how can we get creativity if we allow just anyone to create.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 05:32
To: Ip Ip
Subject: [IP] You need not be paranoid to fear RFID
Begin forwarded message:
From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 12, 2005 4:29:51 AM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Subject: You need not be paranoid to fear RFID
You need not be paranoid to fear RFID
By Hiawatha Bray | October 10, 2005
It's one of the cutest of those cute IBM Corp. TV commercials, the
ones that feature the ever-present help desk. This time, the desk
appears smack in the middle of a highway, blocking the path of a big
rig.
''Why are you blocking the road?" the driver asks. ''Because you're
going the wrong way," replies the cheerful Help Desk lady. ''Your
cargo told me so." It seems the cartons inside the truck contained
IBM technology that alerted the company when the driver made a wrong
turn.
It's clever, all right -- and creepy. Because the technology needn't
be applied only to cases of beer. The trackers could be attached to
every can of beer in the case, and allow marketers to track the
boozing habits of the purchasers. Or if the cargo is clothing, those
little trackers could have been stitched inside every last sweater.
Then some high-tech busybody could keep those wearing them under
surveillance.
If this sounds paranoid, take it up with IBM. The company filed a
patent application in 2001 which contemplates using this wireless
snooping technology to track people as they roam through ''shopping
malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains,
airplanes, rest rooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, museums,
etc." An IBM spokeswoman insisted the company isn't really prepared
to go this far. Patent applications are routinely written to include
every possible use of a technology, even some the company doesn't
intend to pursue. Still, it's clear somebody at IBM has a pretty
creepy imagination.
And it's not just IBM. A host of other companies are looking at ways
to embed surveillance chips into practically everything we purchase
-- and even into our bodies. It's a prospect that infuriates Harvard
graduate student Katherine Albrecht.
...
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/10/10/
you_need_not_be_paranoid_to_fear_rfid/
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