Posts tagged economy
interweb cops: National Internet Web ID proposed by white house: 1984 Boulder #boulder
Jan 11th
Obama’s Internet Plan Sounds an Awful Lot Like a National Internet ID
White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt announced to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research on Friday that President Obama intended to turn over development of a national Internet ID to the Commerce Department.
Pursuant to the Orwellian-sounding National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which the administration is currently writing, Commerce will create a program to provide and administer an allegedly voluntary interoperable verified online IDs.
An early draft makes the case for such an ID.
“(A) secure cyberspace is critical to the health of our economy and to the security of our Nation. In particular, the Federal Government must address the recent and alarming rise in online fraud, identity theft, and misuse of information online. One key step in reducing online fraud and identity theft is to increase the level of trust associated with identities in cyberspace. While this Strategy recognizes the value of anonymity for many online transactions (e.g., blog postings), for other types of transactions (e.g., online banking or accessing electronic health records) it is important that the parties to that transaction have a high degree of trust that they are interacting with known entities.”
According to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, as reported by CNET:
“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.”
We are talking about a government-controlled system. That is exactly what we are talking about. In fact, the presentation of what few facts exist is vague enough as to be good for nothing but worry.
Here are the few facts on the program that are available.
- The government will enable the creation of verified identities
- The government will create an “Identity Ecosystem”
- Getting a verified identity will be elective
- Verizon, Google, PayPal, Symantec and AT&T support the program
- A user would be able to use one login to sign in to all of their sites
So, a user would have one, “verified” ID, which would be known by the government, and a set of large corporations. Given the periodic outbreak of governmental and corporate shenanigans, we fail to see the benefit of such a system.
Further, the “Identity Ecosystem” sounds strangely like the national intranet the Chinese government has been working on, as an alternative to the Internet as a whole, and more controllable.
“The Identity Ecosystem is the embodiment of the vision. It is an online environment where individuals, organizations, services, and devices can trust each other because authoritative sources establish and authenticate their digital identities.”
We write frequently here about Facebook’s efforts to become the source of a universal verified online ID system, but a campaign by the US government to do something similar is another matter. It would be niave to assume that either party is motivated by nothing more than convenience on the part of users.
Boulders High Rent District
Aug 1st
The Downtown Boulder Pearl Street Mall has become a desirable location for various retail and other businesses. But, as buildings change ownership, the rents change, too. Out-of-area landlords may expect higher rent from retailers which, in many recent cases, causes the retailers to close and move shop!
Recently there have been several Pearl Street Mall businesses closing and moving because the rents topped at 10% increases or more. Some have opted to move to 29th Street. Several are still in their current locations with “for rent” signs glaring in their windows.
As to the outcome, we’ll wait and see. The cute boutique Chelsea near 10th Street on Pearl Street is moving and so is the T-Bar, upscale lingerie which moved from its original location on 9th Street and is now located on Pearl near 15th Street ! Some stores with internet sales can survive. Others can’t.
While out of town visitors may spend more here, residents are struggling along just like others in other parts of the country.
Increasing prices won’t gain more customers. So, anything on Pearl Street had better be a big “seller” or they won’t be here long. Restaurants, too, come and go for the same reasons.
What is the downtown management doing about it? Stimulating the economy in a secret way that brings additional retailers and customers to town? When so many events take up the spaces on the Mall and nearby streets, people do not frequent the shops more. Instead, they come for the events and leave.
So, Boulder’s high rent district is just that. It doesn’t seem to want to go away!