slots in maryland
A statement made in Maryland during their pending political debate over slot machines that Delawareans should consider:

If Maryland approves slots, it would likely control the machines and keep the lion's share of the proceeds, predicts state Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, a Baltimore Democrat who chairs the Budget and Taxation Committee.

"We won't do what they did in Delaware. I'll tell you that," she said.

I'm certain that many difficult decisions were made when slot machines were brought to Delaware. They are providing much needed revenue to the State. And a private/public partnership seems like a good idea. Chances are also good that slot machines saved the horseracing industry in Delaware. But, is it time to think again about that relationship in light of statements made by politicians from our neighbor state to the south?

elcomsoft
The last of the motions to dismiss filed by Russian software manufacturer ElcomSoft Co. Ltd., were denied on Wednesday by the District Court Judge in the case. The company has built software that enables a person to make a copy of an ebook, even though the ebook has technology built into it to stop people from making copies. Such software is illegal in the United States under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The motions argued that the DMCA

was overly vague, violated free speech rights and infringed on the established right to "fair use" of copyrighted material.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a copy of Judge Whyte's 35 page long opinion online. The decision in this case, and in any appeals that may follow it, may be very important when it comes to the balance between a creator's protection under copyright, and the freedom to share ideas under the first amendment.

unsafe surfing
The scenerio painted in a Salon article entitled The pop-up ad campaign from hell lives up to its name. Malicious spyware, hijacked web surfers, and an internet business with questionable practices, and it all begins from a "family entertainment portal."

special domain for doctors, lawyers, and accountants
The .pro domain may become a reality soon. The price for the new domain will be approximately 10 times what most other top-level domains costs. In addition to the name, some additional security features will be available to the holders of .pro domains. These would include encrypted email and a security certificate for the site.

"The bundling of a domain name with a digital security product is a tremendous development in Internet security," Stephen Wu, co-chair of the Information Security Committee of the American Bar Association, said in a statement. "The .pro system will provide a means for professionals to conduct electronic transactions and communications that satisfy electronic signature laws and provide assurances of identity and confidentiality."

After trademark holders, then doctors, lawyers, and accountants get their chance to take domain names. Eventually, architects and other professionals will be allowed to use the suffix.

appealing red lights
Wilmington's red light camera's have some enforcement problems it seems, from a story in today's Wilmington News Journal. Since 10 cameras were turned on in June of last year, 25,155 tickets were issued. Nearly 14,000 people have paid. A very few people appealed. All 214 people who have appealed their citations have now had their cases dropped. A number of problems came up that caused the hearings of the appeals to be delayed for an extended period of time. In response to the delay, the City has decided to drop the cases against those people.

The article details many of the implementation problems, and some objections to the program overall. It also includes the locations of the cameras. When it comes to traffic control devices like stoplights, safety should be the sole concern. Not revenues. That's an issue that the News Journal raises which I'm glad to see in print. For more on the subject, see House Majority Leader Dick Armey's page on The Truth About Red Light Cameras.

point-to-point or walkathon?
This last Sunday, Delaware was host to two different events. One was the Point-to-Point equestrian showcase held on a Dupont estate, drawing 22,000 people to a day of fun in the sun, and the other was a 14,000 person charity walkathon organized by an MBNA charitable foundation. Fortune Magazine has a feature on the timing of the events called Who's the King of Delaware?

Not since Beverly Hills was stormed by hillbillies has the world seen such a clash between the old gentry and the new. Yes, it would be easy to dismiss it as a tempest in a gilded teapot, a mere triviality in a world riven by bloody conflict on three continents. That view would be correct, of course. But then, who can resist the spectacle of a collision between what may be America's original corporate culture--Du Pont--and an upstart, mildly messianic cadre of executives with money and ambition to spare? From the invasion of blue-blood redoubts to the changing face of Wilmington's downtown; from MBNA's growing political brawn to its, well, distinctive sartorial philosophy, the credit card company is shaking the old order in the first state of corporate America.

I missed both events. Delaware really needs something like the sxsw as a counter point to such corporate sponsored events. Anyone interested in working towards one for next year?

another look at national id cards
Eric Peters, an automotive columnist for the Washingtom Times weighs in with his perspective on a new piece of legislation introduced into the House of Representatives last week. Why a writer on automobiles? Well, the law doesn't call itself a national identification system. It goes to some ends to distinquish itself from such a system.

What it calls for is biometric information being included on driver's licenses. And a means by which any transaction requiring the use of a driver's license be able to verify the identity of the person involved. This means financial transactions. The information would be kept in a database.

Though they hotly deny that their bill (and companion legislation in the Senate) would create a national-I.D. card that could be used to monitor and track the doings and affairs of every adult American, that's nonetheless exactly what Reps. Moran and Davis have set in motion. Their bill would give the federal government and its minions unprecedented access to information about our daily lives.

Every financial transaction, every trip, each time we produce a driver's license to conduct business would be noted and recorded in a government database. The encrypted microchip would also be used for voter-registration purposes — perhaps even keeping overt track of our political preferences. Our lives would become an open book for any government snoop or busybody who wants a look-see.

And with the national-ID "smart card" almost certainly being linked-at first, or after Americans get used to the idea — to our financial lives in every critical respect, there will be very little the government, its myriad agencies (including the IRS), and even "authorized" private-sector contractors won't know about us, or be able to find out.

I'm hardpressed to say how this wouldn't be a national ID system either.