California legislators have shelved a closely watched bill that would temporarily ban driver's licenses and other state documents that incorporate wireless identification technology.
The Identity Information Protection Act of 2005, or SB 628, is designed to address concerns that new high-tech IDs could facilitate the broad monitoring of citizens. Members of the state's influential high-tech industry have lobbied against the bill, arguing that they're developing privacy and security safeguards.
On Thursday, the Assembly's Appropriations Committee decided to sideline the proposed law until next year.
A spokeswoman for the American Electronics Association, which opposes the bill, said the group is particularly concerned about any kind of broad ban on the technology, which it claims will help deter forgeries.
"This bill has moved far too quickly, is too complex and has not received thorough vetting or discussion," said Roxanne Gould, a spokeswoman for the association in California. "We're really pleased to have a time-out and a more thorough discussion of the benefits of the technology and the possible ramifications, positive or negative, of this bill."
The bill's author, Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, said he remains determined to advance the bill forward before the legislative session ends on Sept. 9.
The bill, which Simitian has amended several times in an attempt to quell industry opposition, has passed votes in the state's Senate and the Assembly's Judiciary Committee. In its current version, it would establish a three-year moratorium on embedding radio frequency identification devices in driver's licenses and other state-issued documents. It would also outlaw surreptitious interception of RFID signals. The bill's sponsors include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Actually, those of us, including politicians who think the masses should be tagged with RFID, should be the only ones to have it inserted, because those people have an agenda, which is making a slave out of the citizenry
Actually, those of us, including politicians who think the masses should be tagged with RFID, should be the only ones to have it inserted, because those people have an agenda, which is making a slave out of the citizenry
to listen to Senator Simitian talk about his RFID bill, go to:
9-10-05: California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) talks about the future of SB 768, formerly SB 682, the RFID-on-mass-documents-moratorium bill (California Politics Today" #423)
to listen to Senator Simitian talk about his RFID bill, go to:
9-10-05: California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) talks about the future of SB 768, formerly SB 682, the RFID-on-mass-documents-moratorium bill (California Politics Today" #423)
The space agency powered down its last System z machine, years after IBM stopped selling them for the mathematical calculation jobs NASA originally bought them for.
The rise of Apple's stores is one of the past decade's great retail stories. So, why then does the company continue to creep back into the big-box outlets and will this hurt the brand?
The company helps small businesses with little tech savvy build apps easily, and now its partner Constant Contact will email-blast prospective users, too.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 S6500 could make its debut at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month, according to a leaked promotional image.
Web giant is spending $120 million to beef up its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, according to filings with the city reviewed by the San Jose Mercury News.
Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon--all are targets for Mozilla's plan to use Web apps to free people from ecosystem lock-in. Also: new Firefox features aplenty.
9-10-05: California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) talks about the future of SB 768, formerly SB 682, the RFID-on-mass-documents-moratorium bill (California Politics Today" #423)
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/cpt-emnn/cpt-emnn423-5551212.html" target="_newWindow">http://etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/cpt-emnn/cpt-emnn423-5551212.html</a>
9-10-05: California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) talks about the future of SB 768, formerly SB 682, the RFID-on-mass-documents-moratorium bill (California Politics Today" #423)
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/cpt-emnn/cpt-emnn423-5551212.html" target="_newWindow">http://etopiamedia.net/empnn/pages/cpt-emnn/cpt-emnn423-5551212.html</a>