U.S. Offers $50 Download

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Posted by michael on Friday October 1, 2004 @05:10AM from the don't-copy-that-fifty dept.

chill writes "CNN is reporting that the U.S. Government is offering low-quality images of its new $50 bill for artists, students and others who discover that their computers, scanners or printers won't allow them to view or copy pictures of the new currency, due to mostly-secret anti-counterfeiting measures built-in. This anti-copying technology has been discussed on Slashdot before. Now to go and test my new Epson scanner and printer to see if they're affected!"

35 of 470 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Security Measures... by ackthpt · 2004-10-01 05:11 · Score: 5, Funny

due to mostly-secret anti-counterfeiting measures built-in.
There is, of course, a problem with this. The guy I bulk order my Tin Foil Hats from won't accept them. Maybe this guy will take them.

--

A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
1. Re:Security Measures... by rgmoore · 2004-10-01 05:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Don't you know anything? You have to make your own tinfoil hat. The commercial tinfoil hat makers have been suborned to make theirs defective. Commercial models act as antennas for, rather than deflectors of, the CIA's mind control beams. Trust no one!
  
  --
  There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.
2. Re:Security Measures... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 06:55 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You forgot to post anonymously. Enjoy your ride in the black helicopter.
3. Re:Security Measures... by chrish · 2004-10-01 07:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Inflation.
  
  --
  - chrish
Damn by BgJonson79 · 2004-10-01 05:13 · Score: 5, Funny

I mis-read the title. I thought Uncle Sam was going to give me $50 for downloading stuff. If it was pr0n, I'd be set for life.

--
There are four boxes used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.
1. Re:Damn by mrn121 · 2004-10-01 05:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I mis-read the title. I thought Uncle Sam was going to give me $50 for downloading stuff. If it was pr0n, I'd be set for life.
  See, and I thought that it meant that the government was gonna CHARGE me $50 for downloads. If it was pr0n, I would be screwed for life.
2. Re:Damn by chill · 2004-10-01 05:19 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  If you were screwed for life, you wouldn't need the pr0n!
  
  --
  Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
3. Re:Damn by Wybaar · 2004-10-01 06:00 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Just wait. I'm sure that's on somebody's plans for DMCA 2: The Search for More Money.
  
  --
  Y|
Open sourcing the $50? by otisg · 2004-10-01 05:18 · Score: 4, Funny

Are they open-sourcing the $50 bill? Can we fork it?

--
Simpy
1. Re:Open sourcing the $50? by Kenja · 2004-10-01 05:28 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  "Are they open-sourcing the $50 bill? Can we fork it?"
  Yes, but the forked version will be incompatible with most peoples systems.
  
  --
  
  "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
$50 download? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 05:19 · Score: 2, Funny

Crap, I thought they had pirated software on their website... :-(
Re:Hey, what about the Zlotych? by jmays · 2004-10-01 05:19 · Score: 2, Funny

You forgot Poland!!

--
KARMA TAG! You're it.
Obligatory Simpsons by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 05:19 · Score: 5, Funny

Our money is so gay!
-Brazilian kidnappers.
Dot Matrix by pronobozo · 2004-10-01 05:19 · Score: 1, Funny

So my dot matrix won't do the job?

--
------
insert sig here,here, and here
Taking RFID to a new level? by thedillybar · 2004-10-01 05:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Photoshop'd image here.
Laugh. It's funny.
50s by coyotedata · 2004-10-01 05:22 · Score: 3, Funny

We are just a step away from Monopoly Money becoming the the Official US Currency.
Re:How many? by Kenja · 2004-10-01 05:25 · Score: 4, Funny

"I wonder how many stupid kids with color pritners are gonna try printing these up anyway, trying them out in change machines, and do other stupid things with them?"
Almost as many as the number of stupid 7-11 etc clerks that will except the copies.

--

"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Re:They won't copy it b/c it's ugly... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 05:30 · Score: 1, Funny

Poor Grant, even after death, has become quiet the specimen. Poor guy. Can't we let him RIP?

Rot In Peace?

Raster Image Process
Almost as secure as Canadian money by asoap · 2004-10-01 05:33 · Score: 5, Funny

Finally the U.S. money is now using 8 year old Canadian technology.

What are they going to do next? Put kids playing baseball on the five dollar bill???

-Derek

--
Treat me like a marketing stat, and I'll treat your movie like a series of ones and zeros
Re:moneyfactory.com? by AKnightCowboy · 2004-10-01 05:34 · Score: 5, Funny

Why is our government allowed to use .com addresses?
Because .com is what web sites are. I mean, you've never heard of http://something.org have you? Sheesh. Web sites are in .com. *rolls eyes*
Re:They won't copy it b/c it's ugly... by ezberry · 2004-10-01 05:36 · Score: 3, Funny

You're totally right! The point of currency is to be pretty, and not to establish a safe and trusted means of commerce.
Re:Obligatory by generic-man · 2004-10-01 05:36 · Score: 3, Funny

George W. Bush is on the fake $200 bill, which was passed around as recently as last month.

--
For more information, click here.
Re:Here's how to print by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 05:37 · Score: 1, Funny

Presto! Grainy money with blurry spots where it said SPECIMEN printed on your favourite crappy $50 inkjet.

I'm sure the Treasury is quaking in their boots right now after reading your comment.
New excuse by JamesP · 2004-10-01 05:38 · Score: 2, Funny

I was SHARING the $50, SHARING, I'm not a thief!!!

--
how long until /. fixes commenting on Chrome?
Re:images by nomadic · 2004-10-01 05:38 · Score: 4, Funny

"Uhh, sure it's a real bill, look, it has a picture of President Ulysses S. Specimen on it!"
open sesame by Doc+Ruby · 2004-10-01 05:43 · Score: 3, Funny

Holy shit, we're slashdotting the US Treasury! We've come a long way from Fort Knox to "MoneyFactory".com. Spend these $50s, fake or not, while they're still worth something!

--
--
make install -not war
Ugly bills buy beer by hellfire · 2004-10-01 05:44 · Score: 2, Funny

they aren't exactly new, but in the race to make the worlds ugliest currency- I think Australia is winning by far.

The harder it is to counterfeit, the better. I don't care what it looks like as long as I can purchase a proper case of beer before the game on Sunday.

--
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
Mark of the Beast by Doc+Ruby · 2004-10-01 05:46 · Score: 1, Funny

Great, the One World universal currency is ushered in, unheralded, marked with a pentagram. No wonder the paranoids are so freaked out by this stuff.

--
--
make install -not war
Re:They won't copy it b/c it's ugly... by sharkey · 2004-10-01 05:52 · Score: 4, Funny

Poor Grant, even after death, has become quiet the specimen.
Dead people usually ARE quiet specimens. If they aren't, it's a pretty good indication that there's something wrong.

--

--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
He's on the three dollar bill? I finally get it! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 05:54 · Score: 1, Funny

That explains the old saying

"queer as a three dollar bill"

Wasn't sure exactly what it meant until now.

Three dollar bill, cheerleader, Bush is GAY! That explains his over-compensating with all the tough guy talk! The Commander in Chief is a turd burgler, a donut puncher, a butt pirate, an ass master, a girly man! I knew there was something wrong with him! He didn't desert from the Air National Guard during Vietnam, they had him in the freakin' CLOSET!

You finally made the missing connection for me! Oh happy day, I finally GET Bush!
Reminds me of a story... by Doesn't_Comment_Code · 2004-10-01 05:55 · Score: 5, Funny

One man decided to counterfeit some money on his computer, so he printed off some high quality images of $20 bills. They looked good, but the new $20's have a hologram on them. So he got a roll of twenty dollar bills and cut out the holograms to past onto his counterfeits.

There you have it... All this anti-counterfeiting technology is working.

p.s. To my knowledge, this story is true.

--

Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
Re:moneyfactory.com? by Pig+Hogger · 2004-10-01 05:55 · Score: 5, Funny

Why is our government allowed to use .com addresses? They're not a company, for-profit or otherwise.
Not for profit? Shit, they make ***ALL*** the money that's in the U.S.!!!!
The key is tin by roystgnr · 2004-10-01 08:12 · Score: 2, Funny

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find actual tin foil in the store? Do you realize that most people have been conditioned to think of aluminum foil as equivalent to real tin foil, despite the fact that aluminum is practically transparent to mind control rays?

It isn't a coincidence, my friend. Alcoa is under Their control too...
hubris by mefus · 2004-10-01 08:30 · Score: 3, Funny

Anti-Copy Technology.

Doesn't that just make you want to try?

--
mefus
In Open Society, GPL Software frees YOU!
Re:Linux is my friend by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-02 06:50 · Score: 1, Funny

... Mafioso who may have set up an intaglio printing press and was printing hundreds of thousands per week.
He'd be better off printing thousands of hundreds. It's pretty hard to pass thousands these days.