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Dear silicon.com...Illegal file-sharing, biometrics flying high, ID fines…
Reader Comments of the Week

By silicon.com

Published: Thursday 28 February 2008

What's got silicon.com readers reaching for their keyboards this week? Reader Comments of the Week showcases how our users are responding to the latest tech news and views on the site...

Illegal file-sharers
Illegal file-sharing: Gov't says enough is enough

Why should the ISPs have to fund what is inadequate copyright protection by the media companies? It is up to them to protect their IP not the companies who run a delivery service.

Media companies should stop bleating and giving the government excuses to create more laws, and use some of their vast resources to get their own house in order.
-- Anonymous, UK

Good intentions to protect copyright - but the wrong method. It will only increase costs and punish the innocent.

It would be far better for the publishers to devise a common scheme of copyright protection. Sadly their current efforts are not good.
-- Charles Smith, London

Editor's choice

silicon.com editor Steve Ranger flags up his picks on the site this week...

♦ Video: Will smart phones kill off the laptop?
♦ The Naked CIO: Identity crisis
♦ Revealed: The full cost of a corporate data breach
♦ Open source gains business credibility
♦ Legal Eye: Is it wise to hit ISPs over file-sharing?

Sky-high biometrics
Biometrics the future for flying bliss?

By 2015 I predict it will be possible to temporarily assume someone else's biometrics pretty much at will using cosmetic techniques. After all, there are very large incentives: to gain access to bank accounts, access to buildings and anonymous travel.

All good motivational reasons for the criminals to spend their ill-gotten gains on research.

The people developing this kind of tech don't always wear white hats and their budgets are just as big as the good guys.
-- Karen Challinor, UK

So, what is actually gained by enabling "trusted" people to pass through an automatic biometric gate - even assuming that it actually works?

Rather than introducing ever more stringent, expensive and intrusive surveillance, wouldn't it be better to spend a fraction of the money and ingenuity on trying to address the causes of our apparent "insecurity"?
-- Richard, UK

Responding to Richard's comments, the introduction of biometrics for the purpose of enabling "flying bliss" is actually underpinned by a clear-cut business model. The assertion that biometric technology is "expensive and overly sophisticated" and that "a fraction of the cost" could be spent on other means simply does not stack up.

As a biometrics integrator on large-scale programmes, we understand biometric projects require exactly the same business case underpinnings as any other system deployment. If the costs outweigh the benefits, the project does not get signed off, simple.

I can categorically say that the deployment of biometrics in the airport environment more than meet the business case. More so, biometric technology introduces a consistent identification performance and contrary to the all too common rhetoric, biometric technology works and performs reliably.
-- Neil Norman, CEO, Human Recognition Systems, UK

ID outrage
ID cards: Gov't slap on fines of up to £1,000

What about fining themselves when they overspend and or the system fails! As far as I am concerned the only scan they are getting off me is one of my arse! (Sorry for the mention of the word arse!)
-- Richard Davies, North Yorkshire

Recently, talking to the pensions office, they refused to discuss my information because my birth date on their records does not correspond with my actual birth date. Now they want me to write to them with a certified birth certificate copy. This is the second time they have wanted this.

ID cards are a really bad idea in light of my experience of government record keeping.
-- Charles Wood, Worthing

Fining the UK's 60 million residents £1,000 each will (almost) pay for Northern Rock!
-- Richard, UK

Please note, comments may be edited for clarity, grammar, spelling, punctuation and style. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of silicon.com. You can write to silicon.com by posting a Reader Comment below, or emailing editorial@silicon.com.