Registering with the gov\'t to use internet?

[IRAQVET]

from FoxNews.com
President Obama is putting plans in motion to give the Commerce Department authority to create an Internet ID for all Americans, a White House official told CNET.com.
White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt told the website it is "the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to centralize efforts toward creating an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet.
The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace is currently being drafted by the Obama administration and will be released by the president in a few months.
"We are not talking about a national ID card. We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy, and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said at an event Friday at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, according to CNET.com.
Locke added that the Commerce Department will be setting up a national program office to work on this project.
The move has raised eyebrows about privacy issues.
"The government cannot create that identity infrastructure," Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology told the website. "If I tried to, I wouldn't be trusted."
Schmidt stresses that anonymity will remain on the Internet, saying there's no chance that "a centralized database will emerge."

So, there's no chance of a central database? Sounds like the first step towards creating one to me! :

 

[Foxmeister]

Sounds that way to me as well.

 

[gog8tors]

Not cool. Oh and yet another committie to waste taxpayers dollars.

 

[Winchester]

Every computer now has a unique hardware and OS related ID number that can be traced back if you have the proper knowledge to do so. This also includes every email, Word or Excel document.

If they want to track you or ID you, they already can. They are just making the process public knowledge.

 

[IRAQVET]

Every computer now has a unique hardware and OS related ID number that can be traced back if you have the proper knowledge to do so. This also includes every email, Word or Excel document.

If they want to track you or ID you, they already can. They are just making the process public knowledge.

No, it is taking it a step farther than the already used IP & MAC addresses. If you read the article, Schmidt talks about an internet ID that would allow "reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords". How else would that happen unless every person had a unique ID, which they would use to log into every site instead of the usual password/ID system most websites have in place right now? If it was just the IP/MAC addresses, then it would remain the way it is. This isn't just making the current ID system public, that's been public for years.

 

[Winchester]

Every computer now has a unique hardware and OS related ID number that can be traced back if you have the proper knowledge to do so. This also includes every email, Word or Excel document.

If they want to track you or ID you, they already can. They are just making the process public knowledge.

No, it is taking it a step farther than the already used IP & MAC addresses. If you read the article, Schmidt talks about an internet ID that would allow "reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords". How else would that happen unless every person had a unique ID, which they would use to log into every site instead of the usual password/ID system most websites have in place right now? If it was just the IP/MAC addresses, then it would remain the way it is. This isn't just making the current ID system public, that's been public for years.

I wasn't talking about IP or MAC addresses, those can be changed at will. Your hardware like the CPU, motherboard, NIC, harddrive all have a unique ID that can be traced or used to ID your computer. These ID's are often used in anti-cheat programs with in the on-line gaming industry and by your operating system to record if you have re-installed the OS on a new machine.

The system is already in place for internet ID's and being used every day!

 

[Foxmeister]

In the military you have a CAC card to log into military computer systems. In fact, the CAC card is also your ID card. The military computer system is set up to where they can monitor every site you go to as well as monitor your emails. That's all done out for national security reasons.

My concern with this proposal we're discussing is the government would create a data base where it would make it much easier to access your computer and the sites you view and the forums you're active on without the need for a warrant. Many people complained about the Patriot Act, which Obama fully supports. It now appears he wants to take it one step further.

 

[IRAQVET]

I wasn't talking about IP or MAC addresses, those can be changed at will. Your hardware like the CPU, motherboard, NIC, harddrive all have a unique ID that can be traced or used to ID your computer. These ID's are often used in anti-cheat programs with in the on-line gaming industry and by your operating system to record if you have re-installed the OS on a new machine.

The system is already in place for internet ID's and being used every day!

This isn't the same thing. They are talking about each person having a unique ID, not each OS or computer. It is like Fox was saying, in the military we had to log in onto the gov't computers using our CAC cards, which ID'd who was using the computer and what sites was visited. That is one thing, seeing as we were military using gov't resources with the breach of security being a high risk. But all of this is leading up to something similiar, but on the public side. And THAT is not acceptable!

 

[PCGOPExaminer]

That Marxist can take his ID plan and shove it.

 

[unionmom]

I want to know why the left isn't losing their minds over this. When Bush brought us warrantless wire taps they went ballistic, screaming about big brother loss of privacy. Why aren't they screaming from the tallest buildings about this?

 

[Foxmeister]

I want to know why the left isn't losing their minds over this. When Bush brought us warrantless wire taps they went ballistic, screaming about big brother loss of privacy. Why aren't they screaming from the tallest buildings about this?

In regards to the Patriot Act, quite a few Dems supported; even Obama while he was a senator. Those Dems who didn't support it, didn't only because it was Bush's idea. In all reality, they liked the government having that ability. I come to that assessment because many of those who came out against the Patriot Act, supported having a biometrically enabled national ID card. This would mean your fingerprints and DNA would be collected and entered into a national data base.

The reason they aren't screaming about this computer ID issue is because they thought it up. If the Republicans had created and proposed this idea, you could bet your bottom dollar they would be yelling about privacy violations.

 

[IRAQVET]

The reason they aren't screaming about this computer ID issue is because they thought it up. If the Republicans had created and proposed this idea, you could bet your bottom dollar they would be yelling about privacy violations.

Exactly! It's all because of who has proposed it.