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The US DoD and the GSA Join the Liberty Project

An anonymous reader writes "The Liberty Alliance Project announced today that the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) have joined the Liberty Alliance in its pursuit to develop open and interoperable standards for electronically managing identity information."

182 comments

  1. Woo hoo by MeanMF · · Score: 5, Funny

    U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) have joined the Liberty Alliance

    Great, that should really speed things up...

    1. Re:Woo hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it's much cheaper than Poindexter's TIA or Carnivore.

    2. Re:Woo hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      maybe the Liberty Alliance framework be bundled with the Hurd.

    3. Re:Woo hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it'll be release alongside Duke Nukem Forever.

    4. Re:Woo hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is good to see US Day of Defeat players helping out virtual liberty!

  2. Enough of your Borax Poindextor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The government supporting privacy kinda sounds like silicone implants supporting healthy breasts.

    1. Re:Enough of your Borax Poindextor by kfg · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't worry. It will all be constrained in its movements by a WonderDatabase(tm).

      KFG

    2. Re:Enough of your Borax Poindextor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I don't know about you, but I'm always willing to help support healthy breasts.

    3. Re:Enough of your Borax Poindextor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you seen Britney Spears lately? Looks like they support healthy breasts pretty well if you ask me.

  3. The problem with universal standards by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The instant someone finds a security hole in this authentication system, everyone is vulnerable.

    The opportunity for fraud in a universal system like this is just waiting to be exploited.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
    1. Re:The problem with universal standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had a friend who found some kind of hole once. He died.

    2. Re:The problem with universal standards by jeffy124 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      no, the problem you describe is the problem of everyone using the same implementation of a standard. "standards" go through much more scrutiny than do implementations, especially when that standard is an authentication system.

      eg - recall recently one of the root dns servers moved away from bind in case bind were to have some unknown flaw that was exploited and used to shut down all the root servers.

      --
      The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
    3. Re:The problem with universal standards by Fished · · Score: 4, Informative

      This is a valid concern. However, You need to remember the alternative: everyone developing their own standard and their own implementation, which may or may not be well done. Ultimately, this has been shown not to work: how many cases have we heard of where someone has broken into an ISP and stolen fifty billion accounts? Worse, how many have have there been that we have NOT heard of? With a federated system like this, the quality of implementations should be much better and, more importantly, the quality of standards should be much better. Encryption is not for the faint of heart - there are probably only a few dozen people in the world who know how to do this kind of thing right - and none of them work for joesautorepair.com. Best of all, as someone has pointed out, with a large scale system like this, bugs will be big enough news to make the papers - instead of the current situation where it has to be 50000 people affected to even hear about.

      --
      "He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
    4. Re:The problem with universal standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was he tricked into going to goatse? :P

    5. Re:The problem with universal standards by gmuslera · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Security by obscurity?

      If they have a security hole, do not suppose that a simple non-standard format will stop knowing the data content. Feeling safe with the format of the file (at least, if it don't have strong encription) is in fact another vulnerability.

      The main problem with not using a open, universal standard is that you tie you information (that should last teorically at least, forever) to some vendor format, if the vendor don't support that standard anymore, or the vendor is gone, then you data simply becomes inaccesible (specially if you have to thank DMCA to give you the inability to make alternative programs to open that format). And losing all your data is a major security problem, and is a risk you have if you don't use an open standard or at least a format that you own.

    6. Re:The problem with universal standards by Biff+Stu · · Score: 1

      So what's the alternative? M$ develops a de facto standard?

      Great, we know the M$ track record for security.

    7. Re:The problem with universal standards by j3110 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I thought the liberty alliance system was hardened to this by several independant implementations. Also I think they are supposed to have security inherent in the system. You create pseudo accounts that are only chargeable by certain other accounts. No middle man attacks should work because of the encryption.

      Worst case scenerio, provided that the protocol is secure, is we get one of the root sites info (like a bank) and all the bank's accounts get screwed up. But we know how anal banks are about security.

      I haven't looked at the information that much, but I thought it was supposed to be pretty much PGP for online forms and accounts. It will make those things that you fear, harder to do.

      As much as I liked the project, it worries me when the government gets involved. The presence of the DoD always sends my paranoia up about 5 points on a scale of 1 to 10. They have no real need for this system except to track people.

      If it weren't for the Liberty Alliance Project though, you would have to trust your private information to MS(Passport), because sites in the future will require one or the other kind of verification.

      Which is less evil... DoD or MS? ... tough question. MS only wants money. DoD could want an Orwellian society. I guess I would have to go with Liberty Alliance still... if Passport became popular, MS would sell information and give it the government without a fight.

      --
      Karma Clown
    8. Re:The problem with universal standards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      MSFT cannot be trusted. They've proven it over and over again. I'd go with the DoD. They're more in favor of open systems, and individual rights and liberty, than is MSFT. The DoD invented the internet as an open system. MSFT wants to close it off and control it.

  4. Great! by asparagus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The government's going to replace travelocity.com!

    My travel worries are over!

    Seriously, this stuff scares the crap out of me.

    How long until you need to sign up for the Federal Identify Network to get a credit card? A drivers license? A job?

    -Brett

    1. Re:Great! by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 1

      Ever hear of a Social Security Number. Try getting a job or a credit card with out one.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
    2. Re:Great! by bpfinn · · Score: 1

      How long until you need to sign up for the Federal Identify Network to get a credit card? A drivers license? A job?

      Would you rather have to sign up for a MS Passport ID instead? If the Liberty Project is evil, it's probabily the lesser of two.

    3. Re:Great! by disneyfan1313 · · Score: 1

      The government's going to replace travelocity.com!

      Now if they could just replace Orbitz so I could constantly feel like they were watching me during the 1,000 times a day I close that darn pop-up window!

      --
      -=SiGH=-
    4. Re:Great! by asparagus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This allows the fusion of various networks of information.

      It's one thing for government agents to have to go through various levels of protocol to get access to all your records. It's another thing for them to have a central database of everywhere you've been and gone.

      We've created a system of laws where almost everyone can be procecuted for something. Now, we're creating networks of data that allow much easier manipulation.

      Piss off a higher-up?

      Database notes: Subject has been to Amsterdam.

      Action: Attach a +20% possibility of being able to bust 'citizen' for drug use.

      I know, you've never done anything illegal in your life and have nothing to hide. Tell yourself that when they come for you.

      -Brett

    5. Re:Great! by rusty0101 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      As Heinlein pointed out through Lazarus Long,

      "When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about spce travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere."

      Other useful quotes at http://www.musespace.com/musings/quotes/lazaruslon g.html

      --
      You never know...
    6. Re:Great! by terraformer · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Actually, the standards created by the Liberty Alliance could make a viable private option work so the Gov't does not need to get involved in the daily operational issues (No, I am not a privatization nut). The gov't only needs to be a consumer of those standards and decide to trust the authentication of any number of private partners in the aliance. Then, the citizen only needs to create an ID with any one of those competing partners.

      Think Kerberos cross realm authentication. If school x enters into a agreement with school y that students from each school will be able to use network resources on the other campus, the easiest way to manage that is to set the KDC to allow cross realm authen (using a shared secret) and then set up ACLs to allow any UID from the other school access to those resources that are to be shared.

      --
      Who are you? The new #2 Who is #1? You are #617565. I am not a number, I am a free man! Muhahaha.
    7. Re:Great! by zuzzabuzz · · Score: 0

      Isn't the Liberty Alliance set up as opt in. "Would you like to link your Subversive Citizen login with your Suppressive Government login? If so, please enter both login ID's and passwords below." Reading the docs, I didn't get the impression your accounts would be linked unless you clued the system in.

      --
      -buzz
    8. Re:Great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the Mark of the Beast.
      Easing its way into our lives.
      Feeding it to us teaching us how to become a number.
      Then once they phase out all old systems.
      You will be tracked, regulated, enslaved.
      Not only that you wont be able to work or eat unless you have the number.

      Once it gains general acceptance and they push for it. Most people will just accept. Then every one else will be forced to.

      There will not be a single shred of anonymity a single idea allowed that is against the establishment, and they will move the mark to our bodies. As already someone has said giving out cards means the cards can change hands and cause problems with real identity.

      "Woe to you, oh earth and sea. For the Devil sends the Beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short. Let him who hath understanding reckon the Number of the Beast, for it is a human number. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six." -- Revelations

    9. Re:Great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If any ID system is run by anyone but the government, and it gains general acceptance, you may very well be forced to pay for an ID that could be used as a means to discriminate against you for any number of reasons. I can't envision a future in which private enterprise would run such a large scale system without compensation.

      Besides, why does everyone need a unique ID all of a sudden? It certainly won't enhance privacy, so where's the benefit?

    10. Re:Great! by kamapuaa · · Score: 1
      When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about spce travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere

      Are you suggesting that the best alternative to a Microsoft Passport type scheme would be colonizing other planets?

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    11. Re:Great! by evilviper · · Score: 1

      Ummm, IDs have been required just about everywhere on the planet for hundreds of years. So how far behind is this social collapse supposed to be??? 500 years??? More???

      I don't put any faith in anecdotes so vague that they can't be disproven.

      BTW, I'm looking forward to spice-travel... :-)

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    12. Re:Great! by The+Analog+Kid · · Score: 1

      You might be able to get one in the coming years because of the abuse that this generation of the elderly are doing. All they do is complain about how their rent in the nursing home has gone up $5 or some other bullshit like that. So the goverment may just get rid of Social Security all together.

    13. Re:Great! by rusty0101 · · Score: 1

      Really? I wasn't aware that natives in the amazon jungle, Sherpas in the Himalayas, or any hundreds of non-tech gropus in hundreds of locations throughout the world were "required" to have 'IDs'.

      Arguably the myrad of wars that we are seeing today are part of the result of the social collapse that has been happening.

      Most of the "IDs" that are in existance have not been around for "hundreds" of years. In fact most "IDs" from more than 75 years ago were actually affiliation marks, rather than unique IDs.

      I also am looking forward to spIce-travel, though I would rather see useful spAce-travel. Initially that also would require unique ID's, however low tech collonies very well may not require such, being more concerned with whether the next harvest will support the children bourn this season.

      -Rusty

      --
      You never know...
    14. Re:Great! by evilviper · · Score: 1

      The typo was intentional... You just have no sense of humor.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    15. Re:Great! by rusty0101 · · Score: 1

      Actually, I just have a really bad sense of humor.

      --
      You never know...
  5. Umm, is this a Good Thing? by offpath3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I just watched the flash demo on their website. Their demo was all about being able to link up your data on various websites. Their example was linking your airlines account to a rental car account. This really just sounds like improved data mining couched in convenience to the consumer.

    1. Re:Umm, is this a Good Thing? by wideBlueSkies · · Score: 1

      Yeah OK. Sounds good.

      But for gods sake, why does the government need to get their fingers involved in this? It couldn't possibly lead to any good.

      Could it?

      --
      Huh?
    2. Re:Umm, is this a Good Thing? by horse_pheathers · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Maybe they're just out to make it easier to implement the DoD's "Total Information Awareness" thingy. Y'know, get the public to do most of the work for 'em by putting all their relevent data into one convenient, easy-to-parse-and-mine linked database.

      -- Horse_Pheathers, really looking forward to the day when some government drone can not only easily find out where I work, but by perusing my credit records know how often I buy condoms. "Nice sex life you have there Mr. Pheathers..."

    3. Re:Umm, is this a Good Thing? by Flower · · Score: 4, Insightful
      The DoD and GSA have joined as affilates. They get to read stuff, attend All Participant meetings twice a year to get updates and make comments on proposals. They have no vote on any technology, PR or policy decisions.

      I don't see what the brouhaha is all about here. Not like they couldn't get their hands on the technology anyway. It is supposed to be an open spec.

      --
      I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
    4. Re:Umm, is this a Good Thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mr horse_pheathers, your nick says a lot more about you sex life than your credit record ever will.

    5. Re:Umm, is this a Good Thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't see what the brouhaha is all about here.

      Oh man, this is /. I'm sure a few people have set themselves ablaze in protest already...

    6. Re:Umm, is this a Good Thing? by horse_pheathers · · Score: 1

      What can I say...I have a passion for funny-shaped water balloons? *innocent look* -- Horse_Pheathers

  6. In the future by DumbWhiteGuy777 · · Score: 0

    In the future, we'll all hafta have like microchips in our brain for this stuff. THAT's how determined they are to know who were are/what we're thinking.

    1. Re:In the future by grammaticaster · · Score: 1

      Brilliant! Now we'll finally have access to everyone's thoughts! Although it's not as though most of us are exactly keeping them secret ...

    2. Re:In the future by Skater · · Score: 2, Funny

      Fortunately, a tinfoil hat will block signals in both directions!

  7. To be fair by Raul654 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    DARPA has a history of doing things the right way and at light speed for a govn't orginization

    --


    To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
    --E.C. Stanton
    1. Re:To be fair by HiThere · · Score: 1

      DARPA has a history of being successful at the things they do, and of taking appropriate risks to achieve their goals. Sometimes their goals and our interests have coincided (e.g., the internet). But they take their purpose from their superiors. Who are currently being lead by the shrub.

      I suppose that this is better than Palladium. And I can't say much else in favor of it. Personal information should be managed locally, with possibly id certification keys being stored centrally (to reduce identity theft only). But this isn't what they seem to be after.

      They want to 0wn you as much as MS does, they just don't want to be 0wn3d by MS themselves.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  8. Alright! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now we can make sure the all of our information from the government's Total Information Awareness project are available in a compatible format to any corporation who pays enough. Okay, I'm half joking.

    1. Re:Alright! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry for my bad grammar but us ACs have to work quick to have any chance someone read our posts. However, I refuse to register.

  9. With a name like that... by skinnydskitzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who can't wait to signup? I'm filing this in league with the PATRIOT Act. Everyone needs federally regulated standards on network indentification. I'm envisioning a future where my permanant v6 ip address is on the back of my living/driving/working/eating license, and I can thank the LIBERTY Alliance for that!!! Ahh, I can taste the freedom.

  10. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is a total lie - I am NOT fat!

  11. aha the solution by dsanfte · · Score: 0, Funny

    So you make a system without flaws. It can be done.

    --
    occultae nullus est respectus musicae - originally a Greek proverb
    1. Re:aha the solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Will the rat bastard moderator too chicken shit to put himself up for metamoderation by using the Overrated option please step forward, so I can kick your ass?

    2. Re:aha the solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      go fuck yourself.

  12. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I'm not ugly!

  13. This shouldn't be a suprise because of..... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 1

    the Total Information Awareness project. Gotta keep track of you somehow..

    sadly...

    1. Re:This shouldn't be a suprise because of..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      actually, this is for *internal* gov't networks. also, think why Liberty Alliance was developed - to compete with MS's Passport. I'd prefer Uncle Sam being non-MS dependent for such an important part of military networks

  14. slashdot effect by ergonal · · Score: 2, Funny
    From the Liberty Alliance Project's privacy policy:

    In addition to the information you knowingly provide us, we keep track of the domains and IP numbers from which people visit us. We also collect site usage statistics such as web browser types and page requests and track users' movements. This data is not personally identifiable and is used to more efficiently operate our business, prepare for network load demands, promote the services and administer the site. To the extent this information is associated with a particular user, that information will be considered personally identifiable information and will be protected accordingly.

    Aha! a website that actually prepares itself for the slashdot effect!

    1. Re:slashdot effect by ergonal · · Score: 3, Funny
      Hah, something else you might find interesting from their privacy policy (emphasis mine):

      How you can decide what communications you will receive: You may click here {add opt-out link} if you do not wish to receive further communications from the Liberty Alliance. We will use reasonable efforts to process any change you make as promptly as possible.

      Sorta like a TODO in code that was never finished, right? I'm glad the Liberty Alliance are on the ball here! Especially since security and privacy big concerns for them.

  15. Government is getting a clue by jonsmirl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm glad to see the US government supporting an industry consortimum instead of endoring the single vendor solution from Microsoft (Passport). I hope MS' stock gets knocked down on Monday.

  16. Why is everyone talking by MoThugz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    about Liberty Alliance as something like it's some sort of individual tagging system? I thought it was some sort of alternative cross-site authentication system to challenge Microsoft's Passport technology?

    Please correct me if I'm wrong.

    1. Re:Why is everyone talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep and your social security number is to be used only for the purposes of tracking your social security account. I don't see any room for abuse here.

    2. Re:Why is everyone talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I know of one "cross-site authenication system" that could challenge Passport!

    3. Re:Why is everyone talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *Biggots* , you mean?
      Someone mod this wanksta down.

    4. Re:Why is everyone talking by jeffy124 · · Score: 1

      you are correct.

      I think this is for something like authenticating users on internal govenrment networks, a place I dont want MS to be given thier security track record.

      --
      The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
    5. Re:Why is everyone talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because about 5% of them are tinfoil hat wearing anti-government lunatics. The rest are misguided sycophants and image seeking thirteen year olds.

      The information already exists. Better it should be secure in a system the people can understand. Maybe it can lead to open and *fair* credit checks, and whatnot.

    6. Re:Why is everyone talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Puhleez... I do not want to be known as "****bigtitsdd" for the rest of my days...

    7. Re:Why is everyone talking by BandwidthHog · · Score: 1
      The information already exists. Better it should be secure in a system the people can understand. Maybe it can lead to open and *fair* credit checks, and whatnot.

      You're new here, aren't you?

      [sorry, just could not resist]
      --

      Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
  17. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wanna bet, fatso?

  18. how about.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tattoos on the arm and geometric symbols worn on the chest.

  19. Re:This is a good thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If the police are shooting at me, I'd like the opportunity to shoot back.

    Maybe that's just the lover of Liberty in me speaking, though.

  20. Great excuse for jerking off in public! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I had a chip in my head running Win3000, if I started muttering "Dr Watson has detected an access violation at 0x054f2c42, reason code 0x0005" while I whacked off on a park bench, folks would just think it was some more run-of-the-mill Microsoft code!

  21. You're not wrong about L. Alliance... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But what did you thought Passport really is?

  22. what a coincidence... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny


    Isn't it amazing how the DARPA TIA program gets limboized by congress, is effectively DOA, and then the DOD just HAPPENS to jump onto the Liberty Project? What's Poindexters new position, DOD rep. to the Liberty Project?

    LOL, I mean JESUS, just how stupid do they think we ar... mmmm, donuts....

    -rt

  23. Re:My Favorite Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You forgot Chevy Chase.

  24. My Identity Dream by argoff · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I dream that I will be able to get health insurence, open bank accounts, go to college, get a job, and retire without using that *** ** **** social security number. I dream that we get rid of it and the ponzi retirement scheme that comes along with it.

    I dream that my license will actually be linked to my prooven ability to drive safely, and not other issues like child support or failure to file state taxes, drinking a beer in the dorms, etc.... And that I won't be tracked and stored in massive centralized gov databases that have almost always prooven to be totally screwed up. (getting rid of frivolous tickets wile you're at it would be nice too)

    I dream that I won't be harassed when I try to buy beer, ciggarates, and spray paint (one time I was even carded because I tried to buy a cigarette lighter).

    I dream that my right to bear arms won't be nickled and dimed to death by people wanting to register me in govt databases like the Nazi's had before they confiscated all privately owned guns from its citizens.

    I dream that my credit will only be checked when I want a loan from the bank, and not when I just want a debit card, not when a bank wants to send me a credit card offer that I half to shred before I throw out, and not when I try to get auto insurance.

    Can you think of any others...

    1. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You want all the free stuff, then you gotta bend over for your sugar daddy.

    2. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I well financed 'visitor' with bad intentions needs none of these things except cash. Identity information is only useful after the fact, as in Israel blowing up baddies apartment blocks, after the event. Loaning your house, mobile phone, pickup and credit card breaks everything. California's border patrol, give or take a few million, proves ilegals are actually welcomed.

    3. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      sorry I forgot a few....

      I dream that I can rent a private mailbox without registering 2 forms of ID with the US postal authority (not a PO box mind you). And that the next time the US post office faces competition from people who offer better service, they will try to compete on service rather than impose new federal postal regulations.

      I dream that I can register my own domain name without exposing my personal home address to every pervert on the internet and email address to every spammer in existence.

      I dream that I can get phone, gas, electric, and internet service - where paying for them is good enough - other forms and paperwork and ID not being neecissary.

      I dream that the government can find a way to opperate without requiring plates on my car like they can find a way to survive without requiring a publicly displayed ID on 99% of the other stuff I own.

      I dream that next time I rent an appartment, being able to pay and show respect for property will be good enough. No backgound checks, credit checks, listing everywhere you've lived for the last 7 years etc...

      ok, that should be enough for now....

    4. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yer an idiot.

      Your ideas may be popular with the /. crowd, but that's only because they're idiots too.

      We live in something called a society. No man is an island, each is part of the main.

      Well know what? You cant buy all those things you want, contract those services, or rent an apartment without telling people who you are. There's no way around it.

      You cant borrow money without proving that you intend to pay it back.

      It's the world we live in.

      You have no right to anonymity, it's not even reasonable to expect it. Not so long as you live in this society.

      You do have a choice, you can leave the society, build a lean-to way the fuck out in the mountains, and noone will know you there - and most likely noone will care.

    5. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like to dream of worlds with bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. I think you qualify for that whole idealist thing. Unfortunately, these things exist because without them less than honest people could even more easily take advantage.

      I also think that you must be pretty young if you still get harassed about cigarettes.

    6. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your comment about the Nazis is a myth and has no basis in fact. The gun laws in Germany were in effect before Hitler came to power. Hitler had no reason to ban guns - he was a popular leader in his country.

    7. Re:My Identity Dream by ASimPerson · · Score: 1
      I dream that I can register my own domain name without exposing my personal home address to every pervert on the internet and email address to every spammer in existence.
      You may want to try Domains By Proxy.
      --
      In 3010, the potatoes triumphed
    8. Re:My Identity Dream by argoff · · Score: 2, Interesting


      Uhh, first off, from my history I seem to renember that almost all the federalist papers were written with a nom-de-plum (anonymous), since they are partly responsible for the founding of US society - I think I should be able to do just fine with an anomynous attitude.

      Second, almost ALL of the intrusions on privacy I talked about happened in the last 50 years or so. So that begs the question, how come we were able to do fine for the other 150 years of this country's existence. Are you suggesting that as we become more modern we need to intrude into other peoples lives more ... I would propose that just the opposite is true.

      Third, I don't think I asked for total anominity or unaccountability to paying for services I use and never suggested that I am or should be an island totally seperate from everybody else. I just don't want the anal probe every single time. I'm tired of it.

    9. Re:My Identity Dream by argoff · · Score: 1

      I also think that you must be pretty young if you still get harassed about cigarettes.

      Actually that wasn't the point, I'm over 30 and have never smoked.

    10. Re:My Identity Dream by argoff · · Score: 1

      Your comment about the Nazis is a myth and has no basis in fact. The gun laws in Germany were in effect before Hitler came to power. Hitler had no reason to ban guns - he was a popular leader in his country.

      You are right, it happened before he came to power ..... Adolph Hitler, 15 April 1935, in address to the Reichsta, "This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future! "

    11. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Identity information is only useful after the fact, as in Israel blowing up baddies apartment blocks, after the event.

      That's right, if the Israeli's do it then it's not terrorism and they're not "victims" they're "baddies". I wish more people had as clear an understanding of these basic concepts as you do.

    12. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also think that you must be pretty young if you still get harassed about cigarettes.

      Well there you are then, he loses the argument by virtue of lesser age. Try again when you're 90, kid.

    13. Re:My Identity Dream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wanna know my dream? A future where another Hitler won't happen...

  25. this is ironic by Stanley+Feinbaum · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ironic that they would call a "tracking system" the "Liberty Project". If anything this REMOVES personal liberty.

    Identity information basically means "government tracking".

    --

    Stanley Feinbaum, professional journalist and master debater! God bless the USA!

    1. Re:this is ironic by flamelord · · Score: 0

      Whenever governments give such projects noble names such as "Liberty" it usually makes me wonder. Why not Passport, or Net ID?

    2. Re:this is ironic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what about the "Patriot Act"?

    3. Re:this is ironic by foniksonik · · Score: 1

      I especially like the part where they say that because it's an open standard, we consumers will be allowed to CHOOSE who maintains our identity.

      Not only that but we could even be given the choice of having an anonymous online identity which could only be 'tracked' to an account number with the only access given to an individual with the right password...

      Now if you go about saying "Hey I'm #58274923793 at the Westfalia Inc. identity depot!" "Track me!" then you might have a problem.

      Reality steps in of course and says that yes you will be tracked to a degree, but certainly no more than you are being tracked at the present and with no finer granularity than at present either. In fact if you're the average joe, why would anyone care to track you? Marketing?

      --
      A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
    4. Re:this is ironic by sniser2 · · Score: 1

      Ironic that they would call a "tracking system" the "Liberty Project".

      what about the "Patriot Act"?

      What about Newspeak ?

  26. GSA by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 1, Funny

    The Girl Scouts of America are entering the Homeland Security field? Who will sell the cookies?

    --
    "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
  27. It could be MUCH worse by Xtifr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To all the people who are freaking out about this "evil" technology, please keep in mind, the Liberty Alliance is developing an OPEN alternative to Microsoft's own "Passport" system. So, the gummit getting behind Liberty Alliance is a Good Thing(tm), relatively speaking. They could be getting behind Passport instead. And then, instead of just needing to have your Liberty Alliance ID tatooed on your forehead, you would have to have your MS-Passport ID tatooed on your forehead, and you would be legally forbidden to run anything but MS-Winders, since only MS-Winders would come with the proper drivers to scan and process the information tatooed on your forehead.

    1. Re:It could be MUCH worse by ObviousGuy · · Score: 1

      The government could be getting behind none of the above as well. Frankly, when it comes to tracking citizens, the government ought to just say no.

      It's bad enough that private companies are trying to do this. There's no reason the government needs to help the process along.

      --
      I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
    2. Re:It could be MUCH worse by SN74S181 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You know, you're right.

      All we have to do is make sure Microsoft isn't involved in it, and it's bound to be free and wonderful.

      Right.

    3. Re:It could be MUCH worse by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      Yes, I was clearly trying to imply that mandatory forehead tatoos are a good thing as long as MS isn't involved. Thank you for providing such an "insightful" clarification for those who may have overlooked that point.

    4. Re:It could be MUCH worse by version5 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The thing about 'OPEN' standards is that they don't prevent anyone from selling consumer's digital identities down the river for a quick buck. Instead of just Microsoft being in control of our online identities, we have a hundred smaller but equally evil companies in charge. Wow! That's a lot better!

      The thing that really bugs me is that its being sold to us as an open standard, so of course we support open standards. It's ridiculous, especially since this technology has NO BENEFIT to the consumer whatsoever. The vast majority of internet users simply don't log out of their websites. How many people have you seen with MSN messenger set to remember the password, giving access to the contents of their email? Not the most secure choice, obviously, but when you're trading cookie recipes, its hardly much of an issue at all.

      --

      "It's Dot Com!"

  28. Re:This is a good thing. by CommandLineGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Folks like Rosie O'Donnel, Diane Feinstein, Sarah Brady, and the lady who heads up the Million Mom March are all right. They know that guns are the true problem and not the people that illegally use them.

    Wait... Rosie O'Donnel has armed guards... Feinstein has a concealed carry permit... Brady bought her son a rifle... what was it with the lady heading up the Million Mom March ? It has nothing to do with making anything safer, geesh, more people die from prescription errors and drowning in swimming pools. It has to do with making only an elite being able to have them. Nice hypocritical, anti-freedom company you want to keep, AC.

    "The people have no legitimate need for guns but the various police agencies should be very well armed." -- Yes, this has worked very well in England, Australia, and New Zealand.

    Just one quick question - why is it that anti-freedom folks try to put personal responsibility upon inanimate objects?

    Mod me down, bad karma can't get much worse.

    --
    [Of course it's client-server; it runs on a LAN]
  29. Of course by mao+che+minh · · Score: 1

    If there is to be an open standard regarding how identity related information is to be aquired and used, you can be sure that the government will want a hand in it .

  30. complainers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When Microsoft introduced Passport, everyone complained. When Government announced support for a system that is a credible alternative to Passport, everyone complains again.

    Idiots.

    Would you rather government mandated Microsoft Passport?

    A system that allows you to login only once is desired in the market place. A standard is desired. This market demand will be fulfilled whether you like it or not. Which entity do you trust the most to implement this standard? Or are you naive enough to think that we won't have a federated identity on the net in the near future?

    1. Re:complainers by istartedi · · Score: 1

      I'd rather just have multiple passwords for different things. Inconvenient? Perhaps, but at least I don't have one single point of failure. Really, as far as I can see, both of these services are just offering me a single point of failure. Was the market really crying out for that? Maybe I should design a bridge with one support column and patent it.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    2. Re:complainers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you figure that it is desired in the marketplace? It's not like Passport is all over the place. Got anything to back up your statement?

    3. Re:complainers by Hope+Thelps · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree, it's like when there's a plague everyone complains but then when there's a famine, a credible alternative to plague, everyone complains about that too!

      Why can't people just criticise Microsoft when they come out with a plan but cheer on others when they offer a near identical plan? It's like people these days value consistency more than hypocrisy.

      --
      To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
  31. Liberty Alliance has it backwards by cosmosis · · Score: 5, Informative

    Because THEY will be the ones, the corporations, the government and the DOD, who control our indentities. Any digital identity should exist to empower the individual to become a better, more informed customer, not a manipulated consumer.

    I highly recommend you read Doc Searles and David Wienbergers views on this to see why any implementation of DigID that is corporate centered rather than individual centered is PURE EVIL, and will be used for all sorts of nefarois things, from total erasure of shopping anonymonity, total profiling, and even BLACKLISTING. This is bad stuff, pure and simple.

    Planet P Blog

    1. Re:Liberty Alliance has it backwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's like every book somebody told you about: 1984, Player Piano, Brave New World, [add yours] . . . Hang on man. Keep it real . . .

    2. Re:Liberty Alliance has it backwards by /dev/trash · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ahh yes, good old Doc. I am sure he'll talk about the ClueTrain Manifesto as well.

      I just scanned the article....yep he mentions that piece of crap.

    3. Re:Liberty Alliance has it backwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      The Liberty Alliance will help preserve your freedoms. Engaging in preemptive military strikes promotes peace. Ignorance is power. Truth is falsehood. Up is down.

      If you are a member of the insignificant minority that does not believe that up is down, then you may be declared an enemy combatant, and you may be tortured in accordance with U.S. law to protect your freedom.

      Hitler: 7 million. Bush: "Shock and Awe"

    4. Re:Liberty Alliance has it backwards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd certainly trust my information to the goverment rather than any for-profit corporation.

    5. Re:Liberty Alliance has it backwards by Spoing · · Score: 1

      Yeah, so folks at the Social Security Administration can sell it through the back door. The government is us. The government is them.

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
    6. Re:Liberty Alliance has it backwards by sniser2 · · Score: 1

      I'd certainly trust my information to the goverment rather than any for-profit corporation.

      Heh, considering how widespread corruption is and how many politicians are in cahoots with the industry, I'd say most governments are for-profit organizations....

  32. Those who sacrifice... by sulli · · Score: 3, Funny

    essential security for temporary Liberty deserve neither.

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  33. From the FAQs by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Informative

    Q: What is the Liberty Alliance Project?

    A: The vision of the Liberty Alliance Project is to enable a networked world in which individuals and businesses can more easily conduct transactions while protecting the privacy and security of vital identity information. To accomplish its vision, the Liberty Alliance will establish an open standard for federated network identity through open technical specifications that will:

    Support a broad range of identity-based products and services

    Enable commercial and non-commercial organizations to realize new revenue and cost saving opportunities that economically leverage their relationships with customers, business partners, and employees

    Provide consumers with choice of identity provider(s), the ability to link accounts through account federation, and the convenience of single sign-on, when using any network of connected services and devices

    Increase ease-of-use for consumers to help stimulate e-commerce

    Yeah, yeah. The gub'ment gonna undermine all those goals and blah blah conspiracy blah blah.

    This is going to happen, and it's best it emerge as an open standard. Sane citizens of the 21st century want a secure and verifiable identity for e-commerce (which extends past the net, swiping your card for a bag of Doritos at the 7-11 really crosses into e-commerce)

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    1. Re:From the FAQs by Flower · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      Stop that. You're confusing everybody with reason and obfuscating issues with researched facts. Next thing you know someone will propose the end to OS holy wars and the cessation of troll posts.

      Then where will /. be?

      --
      I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
  34. Heh. by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1


    I'll bet the University of Texas is eager to get in on this project too.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  35. oh my by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    the first time I read it I thought it said BSA. I'm so glad I was wrong- we'd all be doomed!

  36. Okay, here's the poop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The government has lately become very VERY interested in making itself more accessible to the citizenry (G2C) and to business (G2B) via web services. Lots of federal/state/local government agencies provide certain services to end users, but these services do not work together and you have to deal with each one of them, and their idiosyncracies, separately. In the government this is known as "stovepiping" (each agency maintains its own separate stove pipe). And that's a very bad thing for being an efficient, useful organization to its customers (the citizens).

    An example. Let's say you want to register yourself as a sole proprietor sales company. There's a myriad of organizations you will ultimately have to deal with, from OSHA to federal and state income and sales tax agencies to warranting that you're a drug-free employer or a nondiscriminatory one or whatever the latest law is. You'd like a one-stop shopping location, perhaps NewBusiness.gov, which acts a front-end to all these agencies at all levels and pulls it all together for you. Now that'd be nice, wouldn't it? Or how about one-stop location for handling all the stuff that deals with disasters? Or moving to Michigan? Or going to grad school, complete with Pell Grants and checks for available assistantships?

    This is what the government wants to do. They know that they are fractured into little beaucracies beyond usefulness to the average citizen. So there is a major MAJOR initiative, fronted by the Bush White House, to make the government work together so it can be more responsive and helpful to you. National Science Foundation, GSA, a bunch of groups are working on this. They want to move the government into the twentieth century at least, much less the twenty-first!

    Trouble is, how does the government know it's you who's applying for the Pell grant, as opposed to Joe Fraud who's stolen your identity? They need some kind of potent self-identification. But right now the government is scared spitless about using even cookies on its websites for fear that privacy spooks will start rumors that they're tracking your every move and a congressman will immediately put them out of work.

    So the government is also trying to find ways to make it possible for you to manage, distribute in a protected fashion, verify, and guarantee your identity, or even act anonymously in a way you know they can't reasonably crack. Otherwise citizens will never ever use these services. They know this.

    Commercial crap like MSN Passport just aint' gonna cut it. Passport has a dismal privacy record. Hence the interest in Liberty Alliance etc.

    Yes, the Total Information Awareness project is scary (though anyone who's involved in the project can tell you it basically has no teeth at all -- it's a paper tiger). And various spook agencies are impressive at digging into your private live: well, at least the one in Maryland is anyway. But what's going on in this iniative is, in fact, totally benign. The government wants to really give you your bang for the tax buck, and are trying to figure out how they can do so without scarying you spitless on the privacy side.

    There are in fact people in the government who are there because they want to help make the world better, you know! Not many. But they're there.

    -- a researcher in the DC area...

    1. Re:Okay, here's the poop by sphealey · · Score: 1
      This is what the government wants to do. They know that they are fractured into little beaucracies beyond usefulness to the average citizen. So there is a major MAJOR initiative, fronted by the Bush White House, to make the government work together so it can be more responsive and helpful to you. National Science Foundation, GSA, a bunch of groups are working on this. They want to move the government into the twentieth century at least, much less the twenty-first!
      Problem is, as a free citizen I don't necessarily want the government to become more integrated and efficient. Any given government function, sure: Let's have the Dept. of Motor Vehicles set up a good, useful web site. And having just moved from a state with a good DMV web site to one with a Neandrathal DMV - the sooner the better.

      But integrate all government databases at all levels into one super authentication and data store? No thanks. I would far rather live with some inefficiency and extra expense than ever see that happen.

      Another consideration is that it might not even work. Frank Herbert had a good story about a society that made itself as efficient as possible, until things were moving so fast that they started to disintegrate. They had to create a "Department of Sabatoge" to slow themselves down. I could easily see that happening with these super databases.

      sPh

  37. Re:Isonews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wonder why?

    Oh, because its just some stupid warez kiddie who got busted selling copyrighted shit?

    Who cares.

  38. Re:Isonews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He was selling mod chips fag and charged under the DMCA fag.

    You could use a mod chip to run linux or play imported games, that's not illegal.

    Try a clue, they do a body good.

  39. Re:Isonews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Try a clue yourself.

    What makes you think selling a hacked copy of the xbox bios preloaded onto a chip is legal?

    Its copyright. So is the code on the apple/neo/messiah ps2 chips. They are not legal, no matter what cutesy poo excuses the dirtbags who deal in them come up with.

  40. Here's the rub... by Guppy06 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They're looking for a "federated" network identity, where "federated" means a level of intrinsic decentralization. To me, that sounds like there is a single "federal" (not to be confused with "federal government") information registry that keeps a bare minimum of information, and websites maintain their own private databases that collect their own information beyond the federated minimum. The central database essentially just makes sure that the private databases don't have redundant entries.

    But how "federated" are they thinking here? Federated as in 1803 USA, or federated as in 2003 USA? How centrallized will this whole thing be, and who has a say in who controls how much? Will the central database really keep only a bare minimum of information, allowing most of the data maintenance to be performed by the interested parties, or will it be federated in name only, with the central database controlling everything, giving third parties the ability to collect extraneous BS "if they want to?"

    (Ironicly enough, involving the DoD may help keep things relatively decentrallized. They're not all that keen on single points of failure.)

  41. Re:Isonews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then why wasn't charged with violation of a copyright law you goatfucker?

    Because a modchip is a "circumvention device".

    It's not illegal because of copyright, it's illegal because it lets you use the hardware however you want. I guess you don't have enough of a brain to ever modify your own hardware so you can just be happy being a DMCA loving government stooge.

  42. DoD soldier information by TFloore · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The DoD is very interested in having easy identification for the 1.3 million military personnel in the United States. This means pay information, service records, ratings, training, specializations. Medical records. Retirement information.If it's tracked, they want to have it all referenced to a single identity, cross-referenced on different systems.

    They were working for a while on smartcards for all military personnel, and that's actually gone pretty far along.

    But they've probably learned that there's too much to stick on a smartcard, and you can't get good enough security to put confidential information on the smartcard that you give to 1.3 million people. Too many will lose them, and then you have problems.

    So they want to have the records, and have them easily tied to individuals. And have them available in the different commands, on different servers scattered thoroughout the DoD command structure.

    They are very interested in something like the Liberty Alliance, and making sure that they can use it for their purposes. Keeping this diverse array of information for 1.3 million people is just what this project is made for.

    Seems good that the DoD became aware of it, and decided to participate. And I'm reassured that they didn't decide to just go with the Microsoft solution without considering the options. (Maybe they learned from the problems the Navy has been having with NMCI.)

    --
    This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is... Oops. Frank, I've got your sig again! Where's mine?
    1. Re:DoD soldier information by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but the real questions are: Axis or Allied? And which player class to choose.

      MG and sniper are very effective, but are frowned upon as beeing camping classes. No skill.

  43. Re:MOD PARENT DOWN by eidechse · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Of course, as we all know anyone with concerns about erosion of liberties is just crazy. Luckily it's easy to deal with those crackpots. Just say "Conspiracy". Maybe throw in a litte condescension for kicks. No need to check any facts, question anything, or even produce an argument. Just utter the magic "C" word and the tin foil hat crowd will run for their bunkers. Then you can sit back safe in the knowledge that everything is, and always will be, just peachy.

  44. China has this same problem by Hao+Wu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In many provences, all citizens look somewhat alike (black hair, light build, similar facial feature). This has always been a problem to ID criminal elements and dealing with False Identity.

    There is a huge market for this overseas, representing some 1 billion peoples.

    --
    I suggest you read Slashdot
    1. Re:China has this same problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Fuck you racist motherfucker are you tyring to say all asians look alike?

    2. Re:China has this same problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      Yesee. You oh rook ahrike! So hod to teryu guys apaht.

    3. Re:China has this same problem by laejoh · · Score: 0

      In communist China... People think westeners all look alike!

    4. Re:China has this same problem by Hao+Wu · · Score: 1

      Check your language, partner! No of course we do not "all look alike". People who say that are misguided or prejudice. Don't talk about people you don't understand, I won't listen to it. Any person who travelled in parts of asia knows what I am saying. I can not explain it to you if you don't take the time to read and jump to conclusions about what I said.

      --
      I suggest you read Slashdot
    5. Re:China has this same problem by Hao+Wu · · Score: 1

      Are you saying they are biggots? This is not true. I know it is not. I don't think Americans look alike, except for twins and also relatives of the same family. A lot of Italians look alike, but not because I am racist, they just do!

      --
      I suggest you read Slashdot
    6. Re:China has this same problem by laejoh · · Score: 0

      No, I'm not saying they are bigots! Come to think of it, who was the very first westener to ever visit China? Marco Polo, an Italian :)

  45. Double Plus Good newspeak by sakusha · · Score: 0, Troll

    Liberty = Big Brother knows all
    Freedom = Imprisonment
    Life = Death

  46. Re:This is a good thing. by Melantha_Bacchae · · Score: 4, Insightful

    An AC wrote:

    > The government needs to monitor the people to make
    > sure they are obeying the law to prevent terrorism.

    1) Monitoring an ordinary citizen's breaches of the law (downloading copyrighted media without permission/paying, speeding, and more serious crimes) is not going to prevent any terrorism, because most US citizens are not terrorists, but are rather the people you want to protect from terrorism.

    2) Monitoring known terrorists (while meeting the requirements of the Fourth Amendment for those few who are US citizens) would help prevent terrorism. Pity the government, if it followed your advice, would not have the manpower to watch the terrorists if they were busy watching the citizens.

    3) Most importantly, monitoring US citizens without warrants and such is against the Fourth Amendment, and therefore a crime. You don't want all those Revolutionary War heroes to have died in vain, do you?

    > Of course this is all silly when they don't do the most
    > common sense thing and ban the private ownership of
    > guns.

    Yeah, that would really help. Not only are guns not usually used in terrorism (they like bombs which private citizens do not own), but an armed citizen might be able to stop a terrorist before more people are hurt.

    > The people have no legitimate need for guns but the
    > various police agencies should be very well armed.

    The people, not the police, are generally the ones present during a terrorist attack. All the arms of the police (who are very well armed, some in Florida with military hardware they have no training in how to use) are no good, if they are not present to stop an attack.

    Anyway, the important thing is that the Second Amendment says that people have the right to bear arms.

    You might want to read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights again. The USA you purpose bears no resemblance to the the one defined by those documents.

    Databases (government or things like the Liberty Alliance), monitoring, disarming and stripping away the rights of US citizens are not going to solve the problem of terrorism. To stop terrorism for good, you have to look for its source: hatred and anger toward US foreign policy.

    It's pretty simple. Pull the troops out of Saudi Arabia (and any other place in the Middle East where they are not wanted), and quit showing favoritism toward Israel (be chummy with Israel, but be just as chummy with everyone else), and you will have taken away Al Qaeda's main recruitment issues. Invade Iraq, and stir up a hornets' nest of angry terrorists.

    Heck, being fair, impartial, and not sticking our troops where they aren't welcome would do wonders for our image worldwide. As for preemptive invasion, the last one to pull that was Hitler invading Poland. Boy did his foreign policy land him in a mess of trouble!

    "Lola, kindness is not enough, look for the reason of hatred and anger.
    When you find and understand that, love becomes the strongest power ..."
    Belabera, "Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks"

  47. Liberty Alliance Project by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Hello, I work for the Liberty Alliance Project. We don't actually RUN this place, but we have an understanding with those that do...

  48. Project Liberty and Privacy by Broadcatch · · Score: 2, Informative

    some good reading here

    --

    The antidote for misuse of freedom of speech is more freedom of speech.
    -- Molly Ivins

  49. they confused Liberty with Confinement! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    CONFI'NEMENT, n.

    1. Restraint within limits; imprisonment; any restraint of liberty by force or other obstacle or necessity; as the confinement of a debtor or criminal to a prison, or of troops to a besieged town.

    2. Voluntary restraint; seclusion; as the confinement of a man to his house, or to his studies.

    3. Voluntary restraint in action or practice; as confinement to a particular diet.

    4. Restraint from going abroad by sickness, particularly by child-birth.

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aa

    LIB'ERTY, n. [L. libertas, from liber, free.]

    1. Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind. The body is at liberty, when not confined; the will or mind is at liberty, when not checked or controlled. A man enjoys liberty, when no physical force operates to restrain his actions or volitions.

    2. Natural liberty, consists in the power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, except from the laws of nature. It is a state of exemption from the control of others, and from positive laws and the institutions of social life. This liberty is abridged by the establishment of government.

    3. Civil liberty, is the liberty of men in a state of society, or natural liberty, so far only abridged and restrained, as is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of the society, state or nation. A restraint of natural liberty, not necessary or expedient for the public, is tyranny or oppression. civil liberty is an exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by established laws, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling another. Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty.

    The liberty of one depends not so much on the removal of all restraint from him, as on the due restraint upon the liberty of others.

    In this sentence, the latter word liberty denotes natural liberty.

    4. Political liberty, is sometimes used as synonymous with civil liberty. But it more properly designates the liberty of a nation, the freedom of a nation or state from all unjust abridgment of its rights and independence by another nation. Hence we often speak of the political liberties of Europe, or the nations of Europe.

    5. Religious liberty, is the free right of adopting and enjoying opinions on religious subjects, and of worshiping the Supreme Being according to the dictates of conscience, without external control.

    6. Liberty, in metaphysics, as opposed to necessity, is the power of an agent to do or forbear any particular action, according to the determination or thought of the mind, by which either is preferred to the other.

    Freedom of the will; exemption from compulsion or restraint in willing or volition.

    7. Privilege; exemption; immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant; with a plural. Thus we speak of the liberties of the commercial cities of Europe.

    8. Leave; permission granted. The witness obtained liberty to leave the court.

    9. A space in which one is permitted to pass without restraint, and beyond which he may not lawfully pass; with a plural; as the liberties of a prison.

    10. Freedom of action or speech beyond the ordinary bounds of civility or decorum. Females should repel all improper liberties.

    To take the liberty to do or say any thing, to use freedom not specially granted.

    To set at liberty, to deliver from confinement; to release from restraint.

    To be at liberty, to be free from restraint.

    Liberty of the press, is freedom from any restriction on the power to publish books; the free power of publishing what one pleases, subject only to punishment for abusing the privilege, or publishing what is mischievous to the public or injurious to individuals.

  50. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then it's true? The US govt has issued a warning to American expatriots living in Europe to leave the continent? Whoa.

  51. Re:This is a good thing. by cp99 · · Score: 1

    "The people have no legitimate need for guns but the various police agencies should be very well armed." -- Yes, this has worked very well in England, Australia, and New Zealand.

    I don't mean to insert some facts into your little rant, but New Zealand's cops aren't armed for most of the time. I think (but I'm not 100% sure of it) that the same applies to the UK.

    --
    Warning: Some ideologies on the Net are smaller than they appear.
  52. So then you support the Liberty Alliance? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I don't get how you rant about how Evil the Liberty Alliance is in one sentence and in the same breath claim what we need is individual centered and empowered standard - when that is what the Liberty Alliance is trying to provide!!

    The whole point of the Liberty Alliance, from casual reading and demos I have seen, is to provide a federated storage of identity data - so you, the customer, can choose a provider to store your full set of identity information (one hopes that would include even an individual being able to hold his information on a local server, but even so it means it's not just Microsoft holding the data in a giant juicy target somewhere). Then anywhere you go where you want to make use of the data, you get to choose what part of your identity you want revealed - for instance you could expose an address but not a credit card number.

    It's no good to rant about all forms of digital identification without understanding the form of what you are ranting against. This kind of witchhuntery is just the sort of thing that will give Passport a leg up and REALLY give you something to cry about!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  53. Finally, a poster with some sense!! by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is exactly why the government is interested in using this standard - all of the people that want government to support open source, this is how to make that happen, by making good open standard that can have a number of good open source implementations.

    From what I've read so far here, a number people who would normally be all excited about the government supporting open standards and open source turn ultra-luddite when the words "government" and "identity" come together!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  54. PKI Anyone? by queenb**ch · · Score: 1

    As Big Brother-ish as the whole thing sounds, it's not even the tip of the ice berg. Part of the new PKI-X standard includes a way for your government to issue you a digital ID. As efficient as the DMV and social security office are now, I can only imaine how much fun it's going to be to have to get a digital ID - Yes, could you pee in the cup? Oh, and we'll need to swap your cheek for DNA. Blood drawing is at the next station. The last stop will be the retina scan and hand scanner. Don't forget to get your transponder implant on the way out!

    --
    HDGary secures my bank :/
  55. Re:This is a good thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Monitoring known terrorists (while meeting the requirements of the Fourth Amendment for those few who are US citizens) would help prevent terrorism.

    If you've managed to determine that most terrorists aren't US citizens then you must have first identified them. Why not turn the information over to the police, then there'll be no reason to monitor the rest of us?

  56. Re:This is a good thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gee, so far almost all of the captured Al-Queda members have been mideasterners. The logical conclusion here is that the terrorist threat isn't from american citizens. After all, american citizens don't generally give a shit about US foreign policy, and have no incentives to blow shit up. Think before you post, dumbass!

  57. Re:ep -- who is Ida Galt? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Dear Sir,

    I was using slashdot way back when users were below 5000. Since then, I have visited the site from time to time, watching it fall from mediocre news system to a playground of cunning trolls and over-confident under-sexed geeks.

    I have followed the birth and Dying of *BSD, the times when Beowulf cluster posts were all modded up for being Funny, I have revelled in the delights of jokers from signal11 to klerck, and even tittered at the most successful recent trolls: the "special report" articles from Afghanistan, et al.

    But to this day, I have never been able to find out exactly who Ida is/was. Can you tell me, please?

    Yours sincerely,

    -- Anonymous Coward

  58. Ask not what your government will do to you... by donheff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...ask what you can do for your government, to paraphrase a well known Fed. The US Government is not a monolithic block of Poindexters committed to stealing our personal liberties. Only a few want that and they are often just implimenting misguided legislation from the boneheads you and I elect. There are many more policy makers and technologists within Government who believe in the openess and freedom designed into the Internet. But if we don't find simple, effective ways to authenticate and secure our communications when they need to be secure, the open nature of the Internet is in jeopardy. That is because there are those in the Government (and a heck of a lot more in some of your corporations) who will point to the insecurity of their particular communications as an indictment of the Net in general. And from that point of view comes the increasing call for building structural controls into the fiber of the network - including the monitoring and oversight many of us dread.
    The contingents from GSA and DoD participating in the Liberty ALliance are among the good guys. They believe in an open Internet and in open standards. They released their Certificate Arbitrator Module (CAM) under an open source license. They want to see the Internet work for everyone so it isn't hijacked for a few.

    1. Re:Ask not what your government will do to you... by Czernobog · · Score: 1

      You've got it all wrong mate.
      The way things are going, your statement should read "Ask not what your government will do to you, instead do damage to them on a debilitating degree so that you won't have to find out what they'd do to you...."

      --
      /. Where the truth
  59. Re:This is a good thing. by Zloopy · · Score: 1

    Correction:
    As for preemptive invasion, the last one to pull that was Saddam Hussein invading Kuwait. Boy did his foreign policy land him in a mess of trouble!

  60. Checking out... by Spoing · · Score: 1

    *Bleep!* "Information incomplete. Please re-swipe your card."

    [growls]

    *Bleep!* "We're sorry, this transaction requires SSN and Address to enable it. Information incomplete. Please re-swipe your card."

    It's a pack of gum!

    *Bleep!*
    --
    A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
  61. Re:KILL YOURSELF. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    +5, flamer

    Wow hit a nerve? How about YOU go fuck yourself, since it sounds like you enjoy that kind of thing.

  62. Re:This is a good thing. by Melantha_Bacchae · · Score: 1

    Zloopy wrote:

    > Correction:
    > As for preemptive invasion, the last one to pull that was
    > Saddam Hussein invading Kuwait.

    Saddam Hussein was afraid Kuwait was going to attack him?

    Note the word "preemptive". That is when you attack because you fear an attack. I don't think Saddam bothered using that as an excuse, but I do know Hitler's Nazis mentioned it at their trials as an excuse. That is also the pretense Bush is using to attack Iraq.

    "The path of peace is yours to discover for eternity."
    Japanese version of "Mothra" (1961)

  63. Woo Hoo SNAFU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who's the dickhead who came up with the name "Liberty project"? And what's so surprising that an entity that's desperate to have us all stamped, enumerated, taxed, and locked away is eager to help these "liberty" loving standards developers (who are themselves among the scum of the earth)?

  64. stovepipe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remember the "stovepipe" that Mr. Poindexter thinks needs to be broken down? This is it, folks. Don't be too happy about it.

  65. What a mess. by Fritz+Benwalla · · Score: 1
    This article is the biggest mess of extended metaphor I've read in a while.

    "But the quickest paths in outer space are all toll roads (it costs a lot of rocket fuel to use them), while you can ride the Interplanetary Superhighway almost for free. Gravity does the driving, so the system is really more like an elaborate set of Hot Wheels tracks. All you have to do is let go of the car at the right place."

    Enough already! Hot wheels tracks, Interplanetary Superhighway, toll roads - unless this article was written for nickelodeon.com it's ridiculous, and even then kids would have to do the same thing I did, wade through the crap for the content.

    Sorry, got a little frustrated.

    --

    Believe me, I'm as surprised by my comment as you are.
  66. And that's why I love the Liberty Alliance... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Not only does it keep your information where you want it, but it also keeps your teeth healthy to boot!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  67. Re: Sig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hehehe.

  68. Funny by abulafia · · Score: 1

    Anonymous Coward writes: You have no right to anonymity, it's not even reasonable to expect it. Not so long as you live in this society.
    Funny stuff.
    I'll leave you with a question:
    When I exchange things ov value with another person, what gives you the right to know anything about that transaction?

    --
    I forget what 8 was for.
  69. refrenceing data formats, time stamps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is a UBA schema guide. so isp, busineses, airporst, subways, busses, taxis. have a way of recording and object and collecting statistics, locations, gps location, then put that info in a format that is compadiable with the goverment people tracking db. that is what this is, you will be forced to swipe you card everywhere you go, everywhere you shop. I see card trading becoming more a reality, kinda like the little grocery discount key cards, to avoid tracking a specific user, if enough people do this, the system is full of usless/incorrect information, worthless...... that would be a good day in my datebook. illegal card swapping gatherings...

  70. When has that ever happened? by Kjella · · Score: 1

    Yeah, that would really help. Not only are guns not usually used in terrorism (they like bombs which private citizens do not own), but an armed citizen might be able to stop a terrorist before more people are hurt.

    Seriously, how often is a bomb stopped by an commoner with a gun? Heck, if you'd look at some of the IRA bombs in Northern Ireland, and you'll see bombs work against military outports that have both guns *and* training. Are you telling me Joe Sixpack will do better? By the time he's shooting he'll either be:

    a) Blown away by the bomb already
    b) Panicked when trying to fire his gun, and shot
    c) Shot by the other terrorist behind him.
    d) 9/11: Decompress plane at cruise altitude
    e) Shoot the bomb too and set it off
    f) Shoot the terrorist, but the bomb is timed and goes off anyway

    Seriously, I've heard some decent arguments for having guns, but this is not one of them...

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  71. Re:This is a good thing. by sniser2 · · Score: 1

    I suck at history, but IIRC the Nazis also claimed they invaded Poland to "free" the Sudets living there... oh, and did you know that the regime in Kuwait is more totalitarian now than it was before Saddam invaded? I guess it's still better than Saddam, but we didn't exactly "free" the people of Kuwait...

  72. Read about "Petro Port" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.acadian.com/internet_news/2003/integrat edsolutionsrelease.htm

  73. They've had a clue for a while by SgtChaireBourne · · Score: 1
    The U.S. government has had a clue in that area for a while. Last August, the FTC slapped Microsoft for false advertisement. Maybe it is a coincidence that around that time, Microsoft stopped pitching MS-Passport so noisily and push it steaily without fanfare. Among other things the FTC charged that MS-Passport
    • fails to employ reasonable and appropriate measures to protect privacy and confidentiality
    • fails to provide better security than your run-of-the-mill online transaction
    • collected personally identifiable sign-on history, contrary to claims in its privacy policy
    That was an easy call, MS-Passport cannot be made secure even in theory, but it's reassuring that the FTC is more up to speed than the PTO.

    In regards to single-signon there is probably a lot that can be done with certificates and or keys to estabilish a consistent online identity, but with a minimum of personal data. The personal data, if needed at all, has no need to be kept together with the keys.

    Corporations have now gotten to the point where they must be obliged to respect the Bill of Rights and other legislation just as governments. They [proven] risk and damage from abuse is just to harmful otherwise.

    --
    Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
  74. Re:This is a good thing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they are free to buy Coca Cola
    what more could you possibly ask for?

  75. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 0

    Q: Why shouldn't I simply delete the stuff I never use, it's just taking up
    space?
    A: This question is in the category of Famous Last Words..
    -- From the Frequently Unasked Questions

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...