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California's Wireless Road Tolls Easily Hackable
An anonymous reader writes "Nate Lawson, a researcher at RootLabs, has found a way to clone the wireless transponders used by the Bay Area FasTrak road toll system. This means you can copy the ID of another driver onto your own device and, as a result, travel for free while others foot the bill. Lawson also raises the interesting point of using the FasTrak system to create false alibis, by overwriting one's own ID onto another driver's device before committing a crime. Luckily, Lawson wasn't sued before he could reveal his research, unlike those pesky MIT students."
Bah, giving the government any kind of power just opens it up for abuse.
The four words "promote the general welfare" in the US Constitution have given rise to social security, medicare and other unconstitutional entitlement programs (They only reason why they are not unconstitutional is because there is no guarantee of any entitlement)
The commerce clause - "The Congress shall have power . . . To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;" has been used to stretch the reach of federal regulation. Where it was originally meant to keep commerce from being uninhibited, it is not used for regulating everything that might ever be sold across state lines.
The problem I have is these traffic "safety" devices are a back-end tax. And as a revenue generator, they are subject to different levels of enforcement based on budgetary needs. What was once acceptable becomes unacceptable, not due to risk, but because there is a budget deficit.
There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws. -Ayn Rand
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
No, I don't see an issue here. You're also paying for the White House, yet you are not allowed to enter (possibly except on tours). You have also contributed to the USAFs more than 5k manned aircraft, yet you are prohibited from using them (unless you fulfil certain requirements. It's way harder, but in essence the same as getting a licence plate for your car).
That is an essential part of any society I know of.
I pay taxes as any other person, and I have serious issues with how they are being spent. But that is not the issue here.