Grubby at PokerWorks

There’s a real danger in thinking the government targeting online gambling is all that they’re after.

(Note that the NETeller founder arrests was the Wire Act, not the UIGEA.)

Earlier this week, JFK International Airport opened the Registered Traveler program at Terminal 7. This program, already in use in Orlando, Fl., allows the frequent traveler to keep his or her shoes on and bypass busy security lines at the cost of $100 per year.

That’s not the only cost.Â

Before a pass is given to you, you’re subjected to an extensive background check that includes the scanning of your fingerprints and irises (which are encoded into a biometric card).

More than 35,000 people have already succumbed to participate in this program.

It’s these little enablers left undisputed that open doors.

We bristle at the thought of implanting microchips into our skin. But with GPS, EZ-Pass, monitored online banking transactions, the Patriot Act, the biometric card, Tickle Me Elmo (too paranoid?), and everything else designed for supposed safety and convenience, what really is the difference?

With U.S. funding to and from online gambling and poker sites no longer possible, what will be next? Taxing and regulating our time and use on the Internet?  Being restricted from certain sites?

The World Wide Web just got a little narrower.

Privacy and freedom for efficiency. All the while paying for it.

Doesn’t sound like a very good tradeoff to me.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 9:09 am and is filed under Uncategorized.