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Open Source RFID Project
Anonymous Coward writes "With all the press RFID is getting, I was looking for an open source solution to Wal-Mart's RFID compliancy mandate. I stumbled open the RadioActive project. I think these guys have the right idea. Eventually, RFID will be everywhere. Could an open source project like this bring rapid deployment of RFID like Apache did to the net?"
2 reasons, both predicated on the idea that it will happen with or without us.
1) If Open Source is a major player in the software for such things, we all have a better understanding of it.
For instance, do you really trust proprietary software to say "yes, I fried your tag, you may leave in peace" and actually do it, or do you wonder if it said that, but really just threw a "be silent when this guy walks out the door" to the tracking station that goes off if you leave without paying?
2) If Open Source is a major player, then the community has a much higher visibility for things like standards boards and oversight commities.
If GNU, Apache, Linux, etc and the very vocal proponents of such did not exist, I strongly doubt you'd see geeks and unix beards sitting at as many of the various levels of these things as you do now. It would be back to the backroom anticompetitive negotiations.
So do we just cave and accept RFID (or monopolistic software) wherever and whenever and however it creeps in? No, we continue to be active. But the world is grey. Good and Bad happens. Better than we are involved both ways than to give an inch.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
RFID is ther same technology as proximity cards used to access many buildings.
And here - also cached at - is a proximity/rfid copier and spoofer. It can read cards passively (while another reader interrogates them) or actively, and can later pretend it's the card when interrogated.
Of course, this can be defeated by a challenge/response system, which is available, but lower costs will probably dictate the cheaper ID only rfid.
I've known it can be done, and have had a desire to do it, but this guy already did. Now if this becomes common enough then the manufacturers will be forced to use more secure RFID mechanisms.
-Adam