OT Re: [ale] Big Brother Wins, We lose... From /. Real-ID Passes U.S. Senate 100-0

[Michael B. Trausch]

James Baldwin wrote:
> 
> That is a poor analogy. The Federal government should be in a  position
> to decide which identification meets its acceptance  standards. It
> should not be required to accept any identification as  binding simply
> because a State deemed it acceptable within that  State's boundaries.
> 
[snip]

Bingo.  If you've ever worked in an establishment that serves alcohol or
sells cigarettes, anywhere in the 50 states, and I may be in the
minority on that one, this is a good thing.  Especially because you cut
violence in the stations/bars/etc. on this one by a fair amount because
you're not turning away legit ID.  I know that in Ohio, we could only
100% take Ohio IDs, other ones were based on the individual clerk's
knowledge of other state IDs/DLs.  There isn't even a standard for the
information stored on the magstripe that is present for most states, and
in GA you have one of the weirder ones without a magstripe and with the
little 3D barcode.  Weird.

The point is that I never would've taken a GA driver's license before I
knew what they looked like from having seen my fiance?'s and then
subsequently having moved here myself.  And I know that only about half
of the clerks down here took my Ohio license when I had that.  If they
had a standard way of accessing the inforamtion on them that fits Fed
guidelines, you have half that battle fought and won for you, on either
side:  Buying "controlled" substances or selling them.  And it will be a
positive defense in court, assuming that fraud doesn't become overly
popular, and I'm sure that they'll do something to ensure that it doesn't.

I think that on the whole, this is a very good thing.  People that
indeed understand it can put theirselves in a position to prevent
breaches of privacy and security -- be smart, do well.  Be stupid and
remain uninformed, and you get whatever it is that you get.

	- Mike

-- 
Michael B. Trausch                               <fd0man at gmail.com>
Website: http://fd0man.chadeux.net/     Jabber: mtrausch at jabber.com
Phone: +1-(678)-522-7934              FAX (US Only): 1-866-806-4647
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