I would say that the easiest way for the US to reduce the amount of false banknotes would be to drop the green backs, and use modern anti-counterfeiting technology in the design of banknotes.
You should have a look at the Bank of France site on Bank notes . It has a page on the security features included in the French notes.
You will find:
micro lettering, eye-visible and readable with a magnifying glass
Optically Variable Ink Patterns
Watermarks
See-through design, difficul to reproduce because of the perfect line-up required
Discontinuous Metallized Straps
Thread incorporated in the paper
Colourless ink patterns, the ink is colourless but bright and visible with the naked eye and appear green with ultraviolet light
It does not prevent all copying, but it requires much better equipment to copy these notes than a photocopier or laser printer ! And even with professionnal printing devices, the copies are very crude and easy to spot.
Some of the new dollar bills have some of these features, but are far in the complexity of the design. Moreover, the French notes may looks garish, but these bright colors are much more difficult to counterfeit. If the US Treasury was not so attached to the "green" notes, it could design notes with efficient anti-counterfeiting features, it's better to solve the problem at the source !
It seems that very few in the US are aware of the commitment of the French government to catch up with the development of the Internet. As some pointed out in this forum, France has been in advance for some technology developments. For example we have been using Smartcards for years, and the Minitel has provided to French people, secure online services and information since 1986. Unfortunately the Minitel was a dead-end and this technology could not be scaled and evolve, and it development may account for some of the delay in the development of Internet in France.
Since 1997 the French government has launched a big program to promote the development of Internet. There is an internet site (in French, English, German and Spanish) which gathers all the information on the development of Internet led by the French government: http://www.internet.gouv.fr/engli sh/sommaire.html (in English). The initiation of this program was made in August 1997, by the Prime Minister during a speech which is translated at the following address: http://www.premier-ministre.g ouv.fr/GB/INFO/HOURT.HTM (in English). In January 1998, the Prime Minister announced a program (http://www.internet. gouv.fr/english/textesref/dpresang.htm, in English) which main priorities are:
new information and communications technology tools in the education sector
an ambitious cultural policy for new networks,
information technology as a tool for modernizing public services,
information technology, an essential tool for companies,
meeting the challenges of industrial and technological innovation,
encouraging the emergence of effective regulation and a protective framework for new information networks.
Now, most of the extensive government information and services that were already available on the Minitel, are accessible from the Internet. "The Internet must become a standard tool for the government."
Points missing
The bill discussed at the French Senate is missing a very important point: the necessity to have open document standards for all the information and documentation publish by the national and local administrations. Beside promoting open source software, it should also promote structured document standards such as SGML or XML.
The second point which is missing is that the French government should not only promote the use of Open Software in the administration, but it should also promote the development of OSS. Development project should be funded by the government to develop software needed by the administration in an open source background.
It seems that very few in the US are aware of the commitment of the French government to catch up with the development of the Internet. As some pointed out in this forum, France has been in advance for some technology developments. For example we have been using Smartcards for years, and the Minitel has provided to French people, secure online services and information since 1986. Unfortunately the Minitel was a dead-end and this technology could not be scaled and evolve, and it development may account for some of the delay in the development of Internet in France.
Since 1997 the French government has launched a big program to promote the development of Internet. There is an internet site (in French, English, German and Spanish) which gathers all the information on the development of Internet led by the French government: http://www.internet.gouv.fr/english/sommaire.html (in English). The initiation of this program was made in August 1997, by the Prime Minister during a speech which is translated at the following address: http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/GB/INFO/HOURT. HTM (in English). In January 1998, the Prime Minister announced a program (http://www.internet.gouv.fr/english/textesref/dpr esang.htm, in English) which main priorities are:
new information and communications technology tools in the education sector
an ambitious cultural policy for new networks,
information technology as a tool for modernizing public services,
information technology, an essential tool for companies,
meeting the challenges of industrial and technological innovation,
encouraging the emergence of effective regulation and a protective framework for new information networks.
Now, most of the extensive government information and services that were already available on the Minitel, are accessible from the Internet. "The Internet must become a standard tool for the government."
Points missing: Opend document standards
The bill discussed at the French Senate is missing a very important point: the necessity to have open document standards for all the information and documentation publish by the national and local administrations. Beside promoting open source software, it should also promote structured document standards such as SGML or XML.
It seems that very few in the US are aware of the commitment of the French government to catch up with the development of the Internet. As some pointed out in this forum, France has been in advance for some technology developments. For example we have been using Smartcards for years, and the Minitel has provided to French people, secure online services and information since 1986. Unfortunately the Minitel was a dead-end and this technology could not be scaled and evolve, and it development may account for some of the delay in the development of Internet in France. Since 1997 the French government has launched a big program to promote the development of Internet. There is an internet site (in French, English, German and Spanish) which gathers all the information on the development of Internet led by the French government: http://www.internet.gouv.fr/english/sommaire.html (in English)
The initiation of this program was made in August 1997, by the Prime Minister during a speech which is translated at the following address: http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/GB/INFO/HOURT. HTM (in English) In January 1998, the prime minister announced a program (http://www.internet.gouv.fr/english/textesref/dpr esang.htm, in English) which may priorities are: 1. new information and communications technology tools in the education sector 2. an ambitious cultural policy for new networks, 3. information technology as a tool for modernizing public services, 4. information technology, an essential tool for companies, 5. meeting the challenges of industrial and technological innovation, 6. encouraging the emergence of effective regulation and a protective framework for new information networks. Now, all the government information and services that were already available on the Minitel, are accessible from the Internet. "The Internet must become a standard tool for the government." The bill discussed at the French Senate is missing a very important point: the necessity to have open document standards for all the information and documentation publish by the national and local administrations. Beside promoting open source software, it should also promote structured document standards such as SGML or XML.
Slashdot Mirror
You should have a look at the Bank of France site on Bank notes . It has a page on the security features included in the French notes.
You will find :
It does not prevent all copying, but it requires much better equipment to copy these notes than a photocopier or laser printer ! And even with professionnal printing devices, the copies are very crude and easy to spot.
Some of the new dollar bills have some of these features, but are far in the complexity of the design. Moreover, the French notes may looks garish, but these bright colors are much more difficult to counterfeit. If the US Treasury was not so attached to the "green" notes, it could design notes with efficient anti-counterfeiting features, it's better to solve the problem at the source !
General background of the law
It seems that very few in the US are aware of the commitment of the French government to catch up with the development of the Internet. As some pointed out in this forum, France has been in advance for some technology developments. For example we have been using Smartcards for years, and the Minitel has provided to French people, secure online services and information since 1986. Unfortunately the Minitel was a dead-end and this technology could not be scaled and evolve, and it development may account for some of the delay in the development of Internet in France.
Since 1997 the French government has launched a big program to promote the development of Internet. There is an internet site (in French, English, German and Spanish) which gathers all the information on the development of Internet led by the French government: http://www.internet.gouv.fr/engli sh/sommaire.html (in English). The initiation of this program was made in August 1997, by the Prime Minister during a speech which is translated at the following address: http://www.premier-ministre.g ouv.fr/GB/INFO/HOURT.HTM (in English). In January 1998, the Prime Minister announced a program ( http://www.internet. gouv.fr/english/textesref/dpresang.htm , in English) which main priorities are:
Now, most of the extensive government information and services that were already available on the Minitel, are accessible from the Internet. "The Internet must become a standard tool for the government."
Points missing
The bill discussed at the French Senate is missing a very important point: the necessity to have open document standards for all the information and documentation publish by the national and local administrations. Beside promoting open source software, it should also promote structured document standards such as SGML or XML.
The second point which is missing is that the French government should not only promote the use of Open Software in the administration, but it should also promote the development of OSS. Development project should be funded by the government to develop software needed by the administration in an open source background.
Alain Ducasse
General background of the law
It seems that very few in the US are aware of the commitment of the French government to catch up with the development of the Internet. As some pointed out in this forum, France has been in advance for some technology developments. For example we have been using Smartcards for years, and the Minitel has provided to French people, secure online services and information since 1986. Unfortunately the Minitel was a dead-end and this technology could not be scaled and evolve, and it development may account for some of the delay in the development of Internet in France.
Since 1997 the French government has launched a big program to promote the development of Internet. There is an internet site (in French, English, German and Spanish) which gathers all the information on the development of Internet led by the French government: http://www.internet.gouv.fr/english/sommaire.html (in English). The initiation of this program was made in August 1997, by the Prime Minister during a speech which is translated at the following address: http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/GB/INFO/HOURT. HTM (in English). In January 1998, the Prime Minister announced a program (http://www.internet.gouv.fr/english/textesref/dpr esang.htm, in English) which main priorities are:
Now, most of the extensive government information and services that were already available on the Minitel, are accessible from the Internet. "The Internet must become a standard tool for the government."
Points missing: Opend document standards
The bill discussed at the French Senate is missing a very important point: the necessity to have open document standards for all the information and documentation publish by the national and local administrations. Beside promoting open source software, it should also promote structured document standards such as SGML or XML.
The initiation of this program was made in August 1997, by the Prime Minister during a speech which is translated at the following address: http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/GB/INFO/HOURT. HTM (in English) In January 1998, the prime minister announced a program (http://www.internet.gouv.fr/english/textesref/dpr esang.htm, in English) which may priorities are: 1. new information and communications technology tools in the education sector 2. an ambitious cultural policy for new networks, 3. information technology as a tool for modernizing public services, 4. information technology, an essential tool for companies, 5. meeting the challenges of industrial and technological innovation, 6. encouraging the emergence of effective regulation and a protective framework for new information networks. Now, all the government information and services that were already available on the Minitel, are accessible from the Internet. "The Internet must become a standard tool for the government." The bill discussed at the French Senate is missing a very important point: the necessity to have open document standards for all the information and documentation publish by the national and local administrations. Beside promoting open source software, it should also promote structured document standards such as SGML or XML.