Now instead of assessing a single, specific instance of a product (a house, or a car) you are referring to an average, established value of a class of products. This is another valid way to assess value, indeed. But then the class of wordprocessors will be primarily ten versions of MS Office because that's what everyone uses. And then OpenOffice will fall within the value range of MS Office - as they say, "for tax purposes only".
With regard to your note that "a product that's easily and customarily available free of charge, isn't "free" its open-market value as well?" - I am not a lawyer|accountant either, but the tax people aren't stupid. And the bad part is that they write the tax code.
While that's true, isn't the value of a house or car generally determined effectively by resale value?
Yes, but only on open market. If your uncle wants to sell his farm to you for $1 and tells nobody else about this, it is not an open market (it's a back room deal.)
What are the chances that Steve Jobs keeps any substantial money in a small bank? And what are the chances that Steve Jobs keeps any serious money whatsoever in a bank? There are far better ways to manage your money (http://www.fisn.com/rates.htm for example) than to let it rot on a minimal-interest-bearing account. So if you sit on $100K starting in January you lose $5K by the next Christmas.
The biggest problem is we outsource work for one of the high end middleclass sectors
And so they are not high end middle class any more. Problem solved.
Government will have to figure out how to tax those people, the outsource loophole, the company doesnt have to pay insurance, workers comp or benefits.
I think you don't understand who tells the government what to do.
If you have a million dollars to spare on the recovery then you may just as well buy an unfettered, untraceable access to the Net at fraction of that. Do you think the people of power in this world will permit a mere web site to trace their actions? There ought to be a way around, and it will be accessible to people with money (and to people with skillz, until they are all caught.)
Yes, that's the same difference that exists between a self-signed certificate and one that you get from VeriSign. The latter one is signed by someone (the CA) and you can verify that signature by independent means. What I outlined may be only a first handshake in a more complicated process.
Not to mention, there is nothing to prevent you from using a browser that supplies false information.
Unfortunately the Universe may grow old and die before you manage to compute a valid data packet without having access to the private key (which is burned into the chip and can't be read back, ever.)
For example:
Computer says: "My public key is 0x1234...89"
Remote site says: "Ok, dude, mine is 0x9876...01. Do XOR on this data that I encrypted just for you:... ciphertext follows."
Computer says: "Ok, I decoded the ciphertext using my private key. The data is this, encrypted for you:... ciphertext follows."
Remote site says: "Ok, you got it right, I reckon you do have access to that private key, and so your public key is also yours, and so you are who you say you are. I trust your data now."
If you break this sequence then the authentication fails.
Like how could you proove that you're not you, and you're actually somebody else? (e.x. friend or family member using your PC)
But it's your burden now, not of the proponents of the chip. "Keep your PIN private and don't share it with anyone, not even with your wife and kids" they will say. And lock the computer each time you go to the bathroom.
In reality, nobody in the government cares if it is fair to sue you for something your neighbor's kid did. History is full of examples when people were railroaded and subsequently inhumed for something they haven't done.
As many people indicated, this system was designed by smart people. You can put anything you want into the chip, but if it doesn't match your real world identity the computer won't be able to access the Net. You still can run Notepad, though.
2) People sell computers. If they do start tracking illegal activity using these, what happens when CriminalX sells their comptuer to InnocentY? InnocentY suddenly has a criminal record, for legitimatly buying a computer.
You are right here on every point, including the last sentence. No pun intended, initially...
And if you are not the CriminalX, then by all means, prove it, sucker as they will say to you shortly after reading you your [remaining] rights. I'm sure it would be trivial and convenient to conclusively trace what your computer ever did from within the prison cell.
The new owner will do it for you. But, really, how many computers get resold? With prices as low as they are today, it's easier to throw it out. Only a geek would be capable of rebuilding an old computer, and there are not enough geeks wanting a spare webserver.
The only question which remains to be answered is if the combination of state-corporate power is too strong to overcome.
My answer is "yes". Rome hasn't fallen because people rebelled. It has fallen because the state made the people into stupid cattle, and when barbarians came calling the cattle was unable and unwilling to stand for the state. In other words, if you weaken the citizenry so that you can enslave it, you are weakening the whole state at the same time.
Please look at a modern motherboard and try to find any IC that you can remove without a professional desoldering station. Besides, the OS (Vista?) will likely have a very serious issue with such a motherboard (won't boot, for example.)
doubt that the hobbyist, no matter how clever, smart, or resourceful, can make (from scratch) a computer comparable to anything past that date. Too many layers on the board, too many chips that are no longer hand-solderable...
You are very wrong here. Google for "Altera NIOS Linux". Won't be as fast as Xeon, but there is no difference for Web browsing.
The new FPGA's will only be configurable with a TCP-compliant software, which will insist on the TCP verilog being put into it also
That won't happen. If you buy a device you are free to configure it with any bitstream you want. FPGAs are configured offline, so there is no room for any key exchange.
And then, crypto will keep it from connecting to the internet anyway, unless you break that also.
Break - maybe. But it would be impossible to use the hack. It would be as [il]legal, and as hard, as hacking your digital cable box to see movies that you haven't paid for.
If this thing happens, then 99.9% of Internet users will not notice it, and the remaining 0.1% will abandon it - exactly as intended. Thinkers and freedom lovers will be denied the means of communication and rendered harmless. Mission accomplished!
First off, such a chip would be hard to keep track
You personally don't need to keep track of its serial number. You just tell it to the ISP when you sign up. The ISP then reports it to the global database. If there was an older record it will be likely preserved, so that the chain of owners can be traced.
A huge issue would be if a large company like Dell adopted this. While this is highly unlikely
If anyone adopts it, Dell will be one of the first OEMs to do so. They use custom motherboards for a long time already, and they are in perfect position to add a blank footprint even right now for a chip that may or may not be installed. The board works anyway, but the services of the chip are not available if it's not there. And the chip will be installed when they want it. Also, Dell does not run a low margin operation, they make relatively expensive (and good) boxes. In this aspect, VIA and other Asian manufacturers will be the last to adopt this chip, given that they have very slim margins and they don't benefit directly from the chip being present or absent. Unless, of course, Vista won't boot. Then everyone will become interested in a hurry.
It can be part of JavaScript. It can be part of Java API. It can be done in DirectX already. It can be done by any compiled browser plug-in already. You'd have to block all that. Not impossible, not at all. But 99.999% of IntraWeb users will not do that. Besides, what will you do if every Web site you visit, outside of realm of/., requires identification?
I can answer this, though. You won't be visiting CNN or Yahoo or Google or any other site that requires identification. Initially a number of sites will exist that don't depend on identification. But once a law is adopted that requires every website to identify its visitors this will be tough. Web proxies will be hunted down earlier than that, of course.
Well, if you think in this direction you will soon notice that humans are carnivores; we don't have four stomachs as ruminants do. A family needs proteins - such as meat - especially if living in wilderness. So you have to kill animals one way or another; or you have to kill your family, that's your other option.
Once we settled on the inevitable fact that the deer is out of luck today we can think what is the more humane way to kill it. You can dig a hole, plant a sharpened stake into it, and wait until a deer falls in and impales itself. By the time you stop by to check on your trap the deer will spend some quality time wriggling on the stake.
Or you can build a snare that traps the deer. The only concern here is that other animals, like wolves, may learn about your dinner before you do. And the deer won't be able to defend itself (or escape.) So the wolves will have some very fresh sushi to dine on.
Or you can use that despicable gun and kill the deer instantly (within seconds, at least.) It's up to you to choose.
Ok, you may bear all the arms you want. What does it give you, in practical sense? For example, your ISP starts requiring your blood sample before they renew your DHCP lease - what will you do then, with regard to your right to bear arms?
That's one reason why I don't own a firearm (currently, at least.) It's too inflexible. I don't subscribe to a notion that one can "scare someone" with it. If a firearm is ever used (outside of very narrowly defined situations, like in your home) you pretty much kill yourself (as in your life, your savings, your name, your future etc.)
Probably the idea of popular revolt, armed militias etc. is obsolete. The people already wield much greater power by just going to work every day (or not going.) And a budding revolutionary has a much better chance of convincing his neigbor to participate in a peaceful strike than to join the militia (and get killed, most likely.)
The energy (signal) in your wrapped wire does not come for free. It reduces the energy in the communication wire and is thus detectable.
The EM field around the wire is there anyway, and it may induce currents in an innocent metal support on the wall - or in your detection wire, and nobody can tell which one it is. If you have a 10 mile wire, there will be thousands of nearby metal objects, all sucking a tiny bit of energy. The attacker might just as well connect his detector to a perfectly legal neighboring wire (cables are made with hundreds and thousands of wires.)
Besides, the measurement can be made without introducing a detectable disturbance. All you need is a way to "cut" the wire, even literally if you want. Then your little black box will be measuring the resistance on side A and translating it into side B, recording the bits in the process.
But this is all ridiculous anyway because a wire between the sites produces much more noise than the transmitter and the receiver. Both ends will be measuring primarily the noise of the wire (including all the RF interference that it collects.)
Slashdot Mirror
With regard to your note that "a product that's easily and customarily available free of charge, isn't "free" its open-market value as well?" - I am not a lawyer|accountant either, but the tax people aren't stupid. And the bad part is that they write the tax code.
Yes, but only on open market. If your uncle wants to sell his farm to you for $1 and tells nobody else about this, it is not an open market (it's a back room deal.)
That's true only before they buy their Macs.
What are the chances that Steve Jobs keeps any substantial money in a small bank? And what are the chances that Steve Jobs keeps any serious money whatsoever in a bank? There are far better ways to manage your money (http://www.fisn.com/rates.htm for example) than to let it rot on a minimal-interest-bearing account. So if you sit on $100K starting in January you lose $5K by the next Christmas.
And so they are not high end middle class any more. Problem solved.
Government will have to figure out how to tax those people, the outsource loophole, the company doesnt have to pay insurance, workers comp or benefits.
I think you don't understand who tells the government what to do.
Because it's cheaper, maybe?
There's plenty of geek talent in the US for the hiring.
Will you work for $5K per year, no holidays, no vacations, on a 60 hours per week schedule?
I think you have a few bits loose :-)
Not if that is an NNTP server...
If you have a million dollars to spare on the recovery then you may just as well buy an unfettered, untraceable access to the Net at fraction of that. Do you think the people of power in this world will permit a mere web site to trace their actions? There ought to be a way around, and it will be accessible to people with money (and to people with skillz, until they are all caught.)
Yes, that's the same difference that exists between a self-signed certificate and one that you get from VeriSign. The latter one is signed by someone (the CA) and you can verify that signature by independent means. What I outlined may be only a first handshake in a more complicated process.
Unfortunately the Universe may grow old and die before you manage to compute a valid data packet without having access to the private key (which is burned into the chip and can't be read back, ever.)
For example:
If you break this sequence then the authentication fails.
"lol, this is not the mark of the beast!"
But it's your burden now, not of the proponents of the chip. "Keep your PIN private and don't share it with anyone, not even with your wife and kids" they will say. And lock the computer each time you go to the bathroom.
In reality, nobody in the government cares if it is fair to sue you for something your neighbor's kid did. History is full of examples when people were railroaded and subsequently inhumed for something they haven't done.
As many people indicated, this system was designed by smart people. You can put anything you want into the chip, but if it doesn't match your real world identity the computer won't be able to access the Net. You still can run Notepad, though.
You are right here on every point, including the last sentence. No pun intended, initially...
And if you are not the CriminalX, then by all means, prove it, sucker as they will say to you shortly after reading you your [remaining] rights. I'm sure it would be trivial and convenient to conclusively trace what your computer ever did from within the prison cell.
The new owner will do it for you. But, really, how many computers get resold? With prices as low as they are today, it's easier to throw it out. Only a geek would be capable of rebuilding an old computer, and there are not enough geeks wanting a spare webserver.
My answer is "yes". Rome hasn't fallen because people rebelled. It has fallen because the state made the people into stupid cattle, and when barbarians came calling the cattle was unable and unwilling to stand for the state. In other words, if you weaken the citizenry so that you can enslave it, you are weakening the whole state at the same time.
Please look at a modern motherboard and try to find any IC that you can remove without a professional desoldering station. Besides, the OS (Vista?) will likely have a very serious issue with such a motherboard (won't boot, for example.)
You are very wrong here. Google for "Altera NIOS Linux". Won't be as fast as Xeon, but there is no difference for Web browsing.
The new FPGA's will only be configurable with a TCP-compliant software, which will insist on the TCP verilog being put into it also
That won't happen. If you buy a device you are free to configure it with any bitstream you want. FPGAs are configured offline, so there is no room for any key exchange.
And then, crypto will keep it from connecting to the internet anyway, unless you break that also.
Break - maybe. But it would be impossible to use the hack. It would be as [il]legal, and as hard, as hacking your digital cable box to see movies that you haven't paid for.
If this thing happens, then 99.9% of Internet users will not notice it, and the remaining 0.1% will abandon it - exactly as intended. Thinkers and freedom lovers will be denied the means of communication and rendered harmless. Mission accomplished!
You personally don't need to keep track of its serial number. You just tell it to the ISP when you sign up. The ISP then reports it to the global database. If there was an older record it will be likely preserved, so that the chain of owners can be traced.
A huge issue would be if a large company like Dell adopted this. While this is highly unlikely
If anyone adopts it, Dell will be one of the first OEMs to do so. They use custom motherboards for a long time already, and they are in perfect position to add a blank footprint even right now for a chip that may or may not be installed. The board works anyway, but the services of the chip are not available if it's not there. And the chip will be installed when they want it. Also, Dell does not run a low margin operation, they make relatively expensive (and good) boxes. In this aspect, VIA and other Asian manufacturers will be the last to adopt this chip, given that they have very slim margins and they don't benefit directly from the chip being present or absent. Unless, of course, Vista won't boot. Then everyone will become interested in a hurry.
I can answer this, though. You won't be visiting CNN or Yahoo or Google or any other site that requires identification. Initially a number of sites will exist that don't depend on identification. But once a law is adopted that requires every website to identify its visitors this will be tough. Web proxies will be hunted down earlier than that, of course.
Once we settled on the inevitable fact that the deer is out of luck today we can think what is the more humane way to kill it. You can dig a hole, plant a sharpened stake into it, and wait until a deer falls in and impales itself. By the time you stop by to check on your trap the deer will spend some quality time wriggling on the stake.
Or you can build a snare that traps the deer. The only concern here is that other animals, like wolves, may learn about your dinner before you do. And the deer won't be able to defend itself (or escape.) So the wolves will have some very fresh sushi to dine on.
Or you can use that despicable gun and kill the deer instantly (within seconds, at least.) It's up to you to choose.
That's one reason why I don't own a firearm (currently, at least.) It's too inflexible. I don't subscribe to a notion that one can "scare someone" with it. If a firearm is ever used (outside of very narrowly defined situations, like in your home) you pretty much kill yourself (as in your life, your savings, your name, your future etc.)
Probably the idea of popular revolt, armed militias etc. is obsolete. The people already wield much greater power by just going to work every day (or not going.) And a budding revolutionary has a much better chance of convincing his neigbor to participate in a peaceful strike than to join the militia (and get killed, most likely.)
It depends on what you have more - time or money...
The EM field around the wire is there anyway, and it may induce currents in an innocent metal support on the wall - or in your detection wire, and nobody can tell which one it is. If you have a 10 mile wire, there will be thousands of nearby metal objects, all sucking a tiny bit of energy. The attacker might just as well connect his detector to a perfectly legal neighboring wire (cables are made with hundreds and thousands of wires.)
Besides, the measurement can be made without introducing a detectable disturbance. All you need is a way to "cut" the wire, even literally if you want. Then your little black box will be measuring the resistance on side A and translating it into side B, recording the bits in the process.
But this is all ridiculous anyway because a wire between the sites produces much more noise than the transmitter and the receiver. Both ends will be measuring primarily the noise of the wire (including all the RF interference that it collects.)