In a new report, "Real ID: Big Brother Could Cost Big Money," Citizens Against Government Waste said integrating RFID chips that carry detailed personal information would cost $17.4 billion and could push the cost of a drivers’ license from between $10 and $25 to at least $90.
"With the high price of gasoline and massive costs of hurricane recovery already burdening Americans, federal agencies should not be saddling drivers and taxpayers with billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses," CAGW President Tom Schatz said.
CAGW said the Real ID measure, touted as an anti-terrorist and immigration reform bill, was buried in an $82 billion military spending bill and passed without any congressional debate in May. However, according to CAGW, most states already were making secure cards at a reasonable cost and improving application procedures. CAGW said that while states are not technically forced to accept federal standards, the refusal of any state to comply with the Real ID law would affect its citizens’ abilities to get jobs, receive Social Security benefits, or fly on commercial planes.
I've been interested in P2P since the early, high-flying days of Napster and KaZaA. I believe that analog copyright laws are ill-suited to the digital age, and that art and culture shouldn't be subject to the whims of international entertainment industry conglomerates. Twitter | Google Plus
