In typical slashdot byline fashion: Is this the end of HDTV? Tune in and see!
The two places it would be great are: -Digital cinema. It might keep the movie theaters open a few more years. On the production side: Talk about a storage problem when you have to store all of the raw footage! -"jumbotron" type displays for arena-style live events.
Wow! 5 insightful? Looks like a few people drifted into the reality distortion field.
has come out with revolutionary products Sorry, no. What they have done is put far more marketing muscle behind products that may/not work better and certainly suffer from a usual amount of manufacturing/planning problems.
that functionally make things easier I have to agree with you here to a certain degree. But
Dell has simply operated as a reseller and box builder Yes, once upon a time they did well going direct. They never really offer leading edge anything. They wait for a market segment to develop and define, then enter at a lower price. Innovation is for other brands you don't quote off the top of your head.
I like Apples too. I just got my neighbor to buy one.
Can someone explain to me where OpenDarwin fits into the OS world?
What I don't understand is how is the security better besides the fact it is a less-widely deployed, but great server OS. For example, could either OpenDarwin or one of the BSD get EAL certification?
Would I be taking too big a risk attempting to run OpenDarwin in production as opposed to a BSD?
Is the deal with the BSD's that they don't have as much driver support as Linux? I'm not really thinking about desktops as much as servers here.
It sounds like they want to store a picture and probably a fingerprint template.
A mag-stripe doesn't have enough storage to do this.
IMHO a contact smart card is a much better idea, but it seems they want to keep the same passport format. Mifare is already deployed embedded in paper tickets so that's a big bonus to them.
The Benefits: For the average bad guy, a contactless module will make much harder to fabricate an identity.
Ideally, gov'ts have a better idea who is coming and going from a country and in a much more efficient manner.
For the average person, this doesn't affect them at all.
For the average dissident, the gov't still going to give them a hard time, so this might be one more way to make life difficult.
The Bad: Bad guys can "collect" information. It's unclear to me what they would do with a unique identifier. They need much more than just the unique identifier. They would need to associate the identifier with (one assumes) the right identity. You don't need to be a bad guy to do that. You can buy most of it from totally legal companies right now. Please explain if I'm missing something here.
Epensive! Understand that it's not just about a passport that will be at least 10x more expensive to make, but the infrastructure to make it work at least half-way decent is a huge project. I submitted my passport information at my local post office. Now, every agency that can accept passport applications has to be somehow connected to the place where the passport is made. Then how do the airports "know" the passport is authentic? More new infrastructure.
The gov't collects information. Well, they do that already except they buy it from private enterprises. They watch the bad guys. They watch people that they view as threatening. I don't see what changes here. Furthermore, anyone that's been on/. for a little knows how easy collecting personal data can be.
I used to work in the wine/spirits business years ago and I can tell you from experience it is very difficult to build business outside your local regulatory agent. Now that was the intention all along. (Prohibition and all)
The Good: A Single set of rules makes it easier to sell to a bigger market.
Now, on the other hand, I have some experience in gov't sales and can tell you once the gov't adopts a some conventions, well, then the big players who were there all along defining the conventions pretty much soak up all of the business. They mostly own the business already, the new rules make it a sure thing.
The Bad: Generally eliminates variety and discourages innovation.
If MS is smart, they help write the laws and develop compliant code simultaneously. So MS gets a 6-12 month jump on the competition when there's little innovation left. Win-Win for MS.
Yes, those are the concerns but sharing a book and sharing an MP3 is not the same thing. It's not even close.
-Is a user going to print all the pages of the book on their inkjet? No. -Is the user going to read the book on a monitor? Most likely no. -Will the user be able to "turn" the pages of google's indexed version of a book? It's reasonable to assume they can't and Google won't have that kind of functionality. It would rightly inspire the full-force of publishing litigation. -At worst they are stimulating demand for books.
Your comments associating this project with theft are tactless.
Anti-Competitive Behavior
on
Reining in Google
·
· Score: 4, Informative
I love it when they intentionally steer away from the whole idea of indexing books. Why am I not surprised?
For those who may not be aware, their objective is not to have the entire book available on the internet because it won't be or shouldn't be. They'll have enough of the book (whatever that is) to help you find the name/author/etc of the book then tell you where to find the book. (Amazon, library)
I just wish more people would DO some of the things suggested rather than sit back and watch another DVD/Tivo.
They are just conditioning you for the total control of distribution they desire. They got it for the most part through retailers, so they'll probably win this one too.
My hat is off to them on their ability to sway public behavior/opinion. I just wish I could be so influential.
I know it seems very desirable to appear edgy with all the "outlawed entertainment" references, when instead it should be the other way around.
-I'm not a criminal just for keeping and sharing (no selling of course) content.
What fails over and over again with the people who disagree with the entertainment corporations ideas regarding monetizing content fail to meaningfully set limits that benefit the individual.
Then when you really CAN be prosecuted for having content that won't belong to you, most of you will stop the "outlaw" posing because of the substantial downside of having a criminal record. (unless you are Martha Stewart)
It's going to happen. In exchange, they might make the price of cable cheaper or something, but most of you will just go along because they gave you something to make the deal easier to take, like HDTV for example.
All the outrage and indignation will just disappear in front of a GIANT television. Sad.
With that attitude, they make you and others that share your opinion reprobates in the eyes of the law.
I wish it was more of a legislative call to action in the tech community.
The more disturbing trend is training American consumers to pay for everything, even commercial-filled entertainment while their rear-ends & TV's grow ever larger.
The media companies will (if they haven't already) make cracking a punishable offense. As it is they drag people through court that crack their schemes just to make an example of them regardless of what the local laws may/may not give them.
Better still, the corporations get to characterize them as the least desirable citizens in the court. It's just like the medical marijuana reformers vs the "war on drugs" institutions.
Blowing it off because it can be cracked just isn't the answer.
I've got the solution for your Ask Slashdot submission regarding two-factor authentication for your Active Directory domain.
The company I work for probably has what you are looking for. Not only does the client require a smart card/PIN to get on the domain, but we've greatly simplified the enroll, administration of all users from any PC in the domain (with proper token and priveledges) as well.
The company I work for has a website at http://www.sci-s.com/ but the product isn't even up there yet.
We probably have what you are looking for. It's just released so there's an excellent reason why you couldn't find anything like it.
Features: smart-card authentication for Active Directory clients.
It's really easy to convert as few or as many clients/users as needed.
Users can be enrolled and administered from any PC. (With proper authority and token)
If you have HID prox cards for physical security, we can manufacture a combination prox/smart card. If you have an ID card system, you may be able to re-issue an ID card with the smart card. Just depends on your software.
It's ready today. This is not a drill. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
-The term RFID is thrown around quite a bit these days and doesn't accurately describe what they'll probably use. As in the often-discussed Wal-Mart RFID is dumb memory in a contactless format. It's probably not that kind of module, but I could see some benefit to adding something as simple as a unique ID to each passport.
-It's probably either a Phillips MIFARE or maybe Sony's version FELICIA (sp?) Which in both cases is very proprietary encryption schemes in a contactless format. Both of which are generally available all over the world. Something like this has been used for many years in mass-transit and already embedded in paper. So the govt' has some idea it will work.
What I found so distasteful in the article is how the new guy gets to discredit the previous person in his role. No one ever got fired for buying Microsoft. Maybe spending too much money and lack of a service attitude from IT was a problem, but buying Microsoft was not.
I worked at one company where one of the senior managers died unexpectedly. Wouldn't you know it, the other managers would blame the dead guy for just about everything. That went on for about a month.
I've lived through the wrong-end of the "just do it" attitude. My manager (at the same company from above) praised my "initiative" and "ownership" for years. Then she did a 180 and started giving me grief for implementing the things she approved. Then I did the perp walk. I later found out she lost the budget/political battle with another department and somebody had to go. Never again will I ever contribute as much as I did to that company.
You know the phrase "let them eat cake!" Well it came from someone about as out-of-touch as you are. You know Siddartha(sp?) was the son of a king right? Didn't have to worry about money. Could wander around and ponder life's mysteries without having to worry about food or shelter.
Your comments suggest you have no grasp of what it might be like to have no money. How about turning down a first-tier University because you can't afford the tuition. Or want to live in an area with lower crime rates but can't afford the rent in that area.
Please volunteer in programs trying to get runaway teenagers off the street. Please volunteer in the worst-performing schools in your area. There are so many homeless families these days there's got to be a non-profit that helps in your area.
It's not all self-actualization and feel-good phrases. Please, stop it and get involved.
I've got Suse 9.3 (KDE) running at home but it still has minor niggling missing features that hinder widespread adoption.
KDE: I'll say it again, from Kmail there's no print selection feature. My hope is KDE 4.0 will have that feature.
Hardware issues: I've got a usb keyboard that doesn't kick-in on boot sometimes. The wife just resets. I've got an Epson printer/scanner/more (Linux drivers hosted in Japan!) that goes to sleep and cups can't start it.
OpenOffice.Org: Had I known how unstable OOO was when I installed 9.3 I wouldn't have done it. At the time, the wife had some old version OOO documents that would crash in the shipping version. Updates since then took care of the issues, but 100+MB of OOO update was not easy on dial-up.
Packman: That packman site is *exactly* why MS has nothing to worry about. If in the next 10 years MS screwed up their monopoly and they have to prosecute Linux, they only have to do an RIAA-style sweep of individuals violating one right/patent or another. It won't threaten IBM and they'll "put the chill" on desktop tux.
All is not lost however. I got my neighbor onto a mac mini for their first (yes first) computer and they were confounded by the thing. -What's a.wmv and how do I open it? (Had to download the archive unpacking application first, then install WMP.) -The bluetooth mouse falls asleep and loses connection. -I set up their mail. (they are struggling with the sooo simple mail client) -Show me that search bar thing again?
So, even in the slicker world of Macs, they are still far from perfect and Linux is definitely in the running for a desktop OS.
The sad news is there is no such thing as a perpetually competitive market. The tendency is for one firm to use any means necessary to maintain a dominant position. Therefore, there is no "upstart" no small company out gunning the big behemoth. Small company too big? Crush them. Period. Example, phone companies, Microsoft, etc.
It has been observed in history that capitalism tends to create two social classes, one very small minority dominating the other in every sense of the word. Some societies have made laws that supress these tendencies and redistributes wealth. But labor and environmental laws, sewers, building codes all are the antithesis of capitalism. They do nothing but raise the cost of goods and services.
Please do not resort to quickie-mart capitalism. I urge you to get a better grasp of *both* sides of the subject.
The writing has been on the wall for them. They've got Microsoft, Sun, Red Hat and a few others desperate to eat their lunch.
My understanding is they have some good products, but when you've got Microsoft paying to switch your best resellers over to MS, I don't really see where Novell's got a defensible market position.
I have a feeling that Novell's success would be viewed as a substantial failure on Microsoft's part.
I tend to think the numbers are lying one way or another.
Either it's an EA kind of environment where 60,000K may be cheap for such devotion, or gaming is in the equivalent of the tech bubble.
Un-related but funny story. I have some aquiantances (sp?) here in L.A. that write scripts and they actually get evaluated (paid too) by people who can get movies made. The latest overwhelming reply to their work has been, "It's a great script, but we're really looking for something based on a video game.."
If any bank here could offer me Smartcard + PIN or one-time PAD authentication today, they'd have my business right now
There's so very few of you though.
Does anyone remember the Amex blue? It had some basic authentication and no one wanted to use it. There's no reason a consumer is going to demand this. That's why the U.S. might be the last place in the world to implement EMV. The banks don't want to pay and the consumer's don't want it.
Do a search for NavyCash on google. It just barely scratches the surface of what a smart card should do in this country, except most of the financial network transactions are still done by the mag-stripe on back.
It is digital info that someone could HACK and reuse, that is referrenced irretrievably to YOU
In a system where the actual image of your finger was stored and linked to your personal information, yes this problem would exist.
But, the systems I've seen (Fancy stuff to be sure) they address this issue a couple of different ways. 1. no "picture" of your finger. 2. fingerprints and personal information are not kept together, or otherwise easily associated.
Some AFIS now anonymize the fingerprint data. I'm honestly not quite sure how that works, but my understanding is if a bad guy did steal templates (representations of fingerprints) and could reconstruct the templates, they don't know to whom(sp?) they belong.
You are a bad guy with Bank XYZ templates who has figured out how exactly to send a template over the internet that doesn't belong to you that the server happily accepts. Dictionary attack? (many account names, guess password, too many templates) keyboard sniffing? (one account name, one password, too many templates) Phishing? (customer unwittingly gives away all secret info, templates useless)
The underlying premise in your nightmare scenario is there's a single source of biometric authentication for all institutions. No consumer would want that and the strong authentication corporations and their customers know this.
Biometric authentication is not perfect security, but it appears to me to be much harder to do bad things.
Slashdot Mirror
In typical slashdot byline fashion: Is this the end of HDTV? Tune in and see!
The two places it would be great are:
-Digital cinema. It might keep the movie theaters open a few more years. On the production side: Talk about a storage problem when you have to store all of the raw footage!
-"jumbotron" type displays for arena-style live events.
Wow! 5 insightful? Looks like a few people drifted into the reality distortion field.
has come out with revolutionary products
Sorry, no. What they have done is put far more marketing muscle behind products that may/not work better and certainly suffer from a usual amount of manufacturing/planning problems.
that functionally make things easier
I have to agree with you here to a certain degree. But
Dell has simply operated as a reseller and box builder
Yes, once upon a time they did well going direct. They never really offer leading edge anything. They wait for a market segment to develop and define, then enter at a lower price. Innovation is for other brands you don't quote off the top of your head.
I like Apples too. I just got my neighbor to buy one.
Can someone explain to me where OpenDarwin fits into the OS world?
What I don't understand is how is the security better besides the fact it is a less-widely deployed, but great server OS. For example, could either OpenDarwin or one of the BSD get EAL certification?
Would I be taking too big a risk attempting to run OpenDarwin in production as opposed to a BSD?
Is the deal with the BSD's that they don't have as much driver support as Linux? I'm not really thinking about desktops as much as servers here.
Any help would be great
It sounds like they want to store a picture and probably a fingerprint template.
A mag-stripe doesn't have enough storage to do this.
IMHO a contact smart card is a much better idea, but it seems they want to keep the same passport format. Mifare is already deployed embedded in paper tickets so that's a big bonus to them.
The Benefits:
/. for a little knows how easy collecting personal data can be.
For the average bad guy, a contactless module will make much harder to fabricate an identity.
Ideally, gov'ts have a better idea who is coming and going from a country and in a much more efficient manner.
For the average person, this doesn't affect them at all.
For the average dissident, the gov't still going to give them a hard time, so this might be one more way to make life difficult.
The Bad:
Bad guys can "collect" information. It's unclear to me what they would do with a unique identifier. They need much more than just the unique identifier. They would need to associate the identifier with (one assumes) the right identity. You don't need to be a bad guy to do that. You can buy most of it from totally legal companies right now. Please explain if I'm missing something here.
Epensive! Understand that it's not just about a passport that will be at least 10x more expensive to make, but the infrastructure to make it work at least half-way decent is a huge project. I submitted my passport information at my local post office. Now, every agency that can accept passport applications has to be somehow connected to the place where the passport is made. Then how do the airports "know" the passport is authentic? More new infrastructure.
The gov't collects information.
Well, they do that already except they buy it from private enterprises. They watch the bad guys. They watch people that they view as threatening. I don't see what changes here. Furthermore, anyone that's been on
Am I missing something?
I used to work in the wine/spirits business years ago and I can tell you from experience it is very difficult to build business outside your local regulatory agent. Now that was the intention all along. (Prohibition and all)
The Good: A Single set of rules makes it easier to sell to a bigger market.
Now, on the other hand, I have some experience in gov't sales and can tell you once the gov't adopts a some conventions, well, then the big players who were there all along defining the conventions pretty much soak up all of the business. They mostly own the business already, the new rules make it a sure thing.
The Bad: Generally eliminates variety and discourages innovation.
If MS is smart, they help write the laws and develop compliant code simultaneously. So MS gets a 6-12 month jump on the competition when there's little innovation left. Win-Win for MS.
Yes, those are the concerns but sharing a book and sharing an MP3 is not the same thing. It's not even close.
-Is a user going to print all the pages of the book on their inkjet? No.
-Is the user going to read the book on a monitor? Most likely no.
-Will the user be able to "turn" the pages of google's indexed version of a book? It's reasonable to assume they can't and Google won't have that kind of functionality. It would rightly inspire the full-force of publishing litigation.
-At worst they are stimulating demand for books.
Your comments associating this project with theft are tactless.
I love it when they intentionally steer away from the whole idea of indexing books. Why am I not surprised?
For those who may not be aware, their objective is not to have the entire book available on the internet because it won't be or shouldn't be. They'll have enough of the book (whatever that is) to help you find the name/author/etc of the book then tell you where to find the book. (Amazon, library)
I just wish more people would DO some of the things suggested rather than sit back and watch another DVD/Tivo.
They are just conditioning you for the total control of distribution they desire. They got it for the most part through retailers, so they'll probably win this one too.
My hat is off to them on their ability to sway public behavior/opinion. I just wish I could be so influential.
I know it seems very desirable to appear edgy with all the "outlawed entertainment" references, when instead it should be the other way around.
-I'm not a criminal just for keeping and sharing (no selling of course) content.
What fails over and over again with the people who disagree with the entertainment corporations ideas regarding monetizing content fail to meaningfully set limits that benefit the individual.
Then when you really CAN be prosecuted for having content that won't belong to you, most of you will stop the "outlaw" posing because of the substantial downside of having a criminal record. (unless you are Martha Stewart)
It's going to happen. In exchange, they might make the price of cable cheaper or something, but most of you will just go along because they gave you something to make the deal easier to take, like HDTV for example.
All the outrage and indignation will just disappear in front of a GIANT television. Sad.
With that attitude, they make you and others that share your opinion reprobates in the eyes of the law.
I wish it was more of a legislative call to action in the tech community.
The more disturbing trend is training American consumers to pay for everything, even commercial-filled entertainment while their rear-ends & TV's grow ever larger.
It has been cracked again and again and again
The media companies will (if they haven't already) make cracking a punishable offense. As it is they drag people through court that crack their schemes just to make an example of them regardless of what the local laws may/may not give them.
Better still, the corporations get to characterize them as the least desirable citizens in the court. It's just like the medical marijuana reformers vs the "war on drugs" institutions.
Blowing it off because it can be cracked just isn't the answer.
I've got the solution for your Ask Slashdot submission regarding two-factor authentication for your Active Directory domain.
The company I work for probably has what you are looking for. Not only does the client require a smart card/PIN to get on the domain, but we've greatly simplified the enroll, administration of all users from any PC in the domain (with proper token and priveledges) as well.
The company I work for has a website at http://www.sci-s.com/ but the product isn't even up there yet.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Michael
213-743-9181 ext 231
We probably have what you are looking for. It's just released so there's an excellent reason why you couldn't find anything like it.
Features:
smart-card authentication for Active Directory clients.
It's really easy to convert as few or as many clients/users as needed.
Users can be enrolled and administered from any PC. (With proper authority and token)
If you have HID prox cards for physical security, we can manufacture a combination prox/smart card. If you have an ID card system, you may be able to re-issue an ID card with the smart card. Just depends on your software.
It's ready today. This is not a drill. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Michael 213-743-9181 ext. 231
I found the NIST WindowsXP Security guide,
http://csrc.nist.gov/itsec/guidance_WinXP.html
Is there a comparable server guide?
Please, take a moment to consider the following:
-The term RFID is thrown around quite a bit these days and doesn't accurately describe what they'll probably use. As in the often-discussed Wal-Mart RFID is dumb memory in a contactless format. It's probably not that kind of module, but I could see some benefit to adding something as simple as a unique ID to each passport.
-It's probably either a Phillips MIFARE or maybe Sony's version FELICIA (sp?) Which in both cases is very proprietary encryption schemes in a contactless format. Both of which are generally available all over the world. Something like this has been used for many years in mass-transit and already embedded in paper. So the govt' has some idea it will work.
What I found so distasteful in the article is how the new guy gets to discredit the previous person in his role. No one ever got fired for buying Microsoft. Maybe spending too much money and lack of a service attitude from IT was a problem, but buying Microsoft was not.
I worked at one company where one of the senior managers died unexpectedly. Wouldn't you know it, the other managers would blame the dead guy for just about everything. That went on for about a month.
I've lived through the wrong-end of the "just do it" attitude. My manager (at the same company from above) praised my "initiative" and "ownership" for years. Then she did a 180 and started giving me grief for implementing the things she approved. Then I did the perp walk. I later found out she lost the budget/political battle with another department and somebody had to go. Never again will I ever contribute as much as I did to that company.
working class has a low self-image
wisdom and fearlessness..
You know the phrase "let them eat cake!" Well it came from someone about as out-of-touch as you are. You know Siddartha(sp?) was the son of a king right? Didn't have to worry about money. Could wander around and ponder life's mysteries without having to worry about food or shelter.
Your comments suggest you have no grasp of what it might be like to have no money. How about turning down a first-tier University because you can't afford the tuition. Or want to live in an area with lower crime rates but can't afford the rent in that area.
Please volunteer in programs trying to get runaway teenagers off the street. Please volunteer in the worst-performing schools in your area. There are so many homeless families these days there's got to be a non-profit that helps in your area.
It's not all self-actualization and feel-good phrases. Please, stop it and get involved.
I've got Suse 9.3 (KDE) running at home but it still has minor niggling missing features that hinder widespread adoption.
.wmv and how do I open it? (Had to download the archive unpacking application first, then install WMP.)
KDE: I'll say it again, from Kmail there's no print selection feature. My hope is KDE 4.0 will have that feature.
Hardware issues: I've got a usb keyboard that doesn't kick-in on boot sometimes. The wife just resets. I've got an Epson printer/scanner/more (Linux drivers hosted in Japan!) that goes to sleep and cups can't start it.
OpenOffice.Org:
Had I known how unstable OOO was when I installed 9.3 I wouldn't have done it. At the time, the wife had some old version OOO documents that would crash in the shipping version. Updates since then took care of the issues, but 100+MB of OOO update was not easy on dial-up.
Packman:
That packman site is *exactly* why MS has nothing to worry about. If in the next 10 years MS screwed up their monopoly and they have to prosecute Linux, they only have to do an RIAA-style sweep of individuals violating one right/patent or another. It won't threaten IBM and they'll "put the chill" on desktop tux.
All is not lost however. I got my neighbor onto a mac mini for their first (yes first) computer and they were confounded by the thing.
-What's a
-The bluetooth mouse falls asleep and loses connection.
-I set up their mail. (they are struggling with the sooo simple mail client)
-Show me that search bar thing again?
So, even in the slicker world of Macs, they are still far from perfect and Linux is definitely in the running for a desktop OS.
I'm such a big believer in free market economics...
o nopoly/monopoly_profits.htm
See
http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/content/topics/m
For a nice explanation of monopolies. You can also look up oligopolies.
The sad news is there is no such thing as a perpetually competitive market. The tendency is for one firm to use any means necessary to maintain a dominant position. Therefore, there is no "upstart" no small company out gunning the big behemoth. Small company too big? Crush them. Period. Example, phone companies, Microsoft, etc.
It has been observed in history that capitalism tends to create two social classes, one very small minority dominating the other in every sense of the word. Some societies have made laws that supress these tendencies and redistributes wealth. But labor and environmental laws, sewers, building codes all are the antithesis of capitalism. They do nothing but raise the cost of goods and services.
Please do not resort to quickie-mart capitalism. I urge you to get a better grasp of *both* sides of the subject.
The writing has been on the wall for them. They've got Microsoft, Sun, Red Hat and a few others desperate to eat their lunch.
My understanding is they have some good products, but when you've got Microsoft paying to switch your best resellers over to MS, I don't really see where Novell's got a defensible market position.
I have a feeling that Novell's success would be viewed as a substantial failure on Microsoft's part.
That the studio can make some money on
That's why they call it show business.
The "art and creativity" part seems to be more of an afterthought.
I tend to think the numbers are lying one way or another.
Either it's an EA kind of environment where 60,000K may be cheap for such devotion, or gaming is in the equivalent of the tech bubble.
Un-related but funny story. I have some aquiantances (sp?) here in L.A. that write scripts and they actually get evaluated (paid too) by people who can get movies made. The latest overwhelming reply to their work has been, "It's a great script, but we're really looking for something based on a video game.."
True story.
If any bank here could offer me Smartcard + PIN or one-time PAD authentication today, they'd have my business right now
There's so very few of you though.
Does anyone remember the Amex blue? It had some basic authentication and no one wanted to use it. There's no reason a consumer is going to demand this. That's why the U.S. might be the last place in the world to implement EMV. The banks don't want to pay and the consumer's don't want it.
Do a search for NavyCash on google. It just barely scratches the surface of what a smart card should do in this country, except most of the financial network transactions are still done by the mag-stripe on back.
It is digital info that someone could HACK and reuse, that is referrenced irretrievably to YOU
In a system where the actual image of your finger was stored and linked to your personal information, yes this problem would exist.
But, the systems I've seen (Fancy stuff to be sure) they address this issue a couple of different ways.
1. no "picture" of your finger.
2. fingerprints and personal information are not kept together, or otherwise easily associated.
Some AFIS now anonymize the fingerprint data. I'm honestly not quite sure how that works, but my understanding is if a bad guy did steal templates (representations of fingerprints) and could reconstruct the templates, they don't know to whom(sp?) they belong.
You are a bad guy with Bank XYZ templates who has figured out how exactly to send a template over the internet that doesn't belong to you that the server happily accepts.
Dictionary attack? (many account names, guess password, too many templates)
keyboard sniffing? (one account name, one password, too many templates)
Phishing? (customer unwittingly gives away all secret info, templates useless)
The underlying premise in your nightmare scenario is there's a single source of biometric authentication for all institutions. No consumer would want that and the strong authentication corporations and their customers know this.
Biometric authentication is not perfect security, but it appears to me to be much harder to do bad things.