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The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Fri Aug 21 1998 - 17:16:57 ADT
Martin G. Diehl (mdiehl@nac.net)
Sat, 11 Apr 1998 14:24:43 -0400
Bill Frantz wrote:
>
> At 4:31 AM -0800 4/11/98, Martin G. Diehl wrote:
> >Bill Stewart wrote:
> >>
> >> >> http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9804/10/t_t/smart.stamp/index.html
> >> >> (http://www.estamp.com/)
> >> >> This is an article about a new postage stamp that can be
> >> >> printed by your computer.
> >[snip]
> >> My first reaction to the estamp was "traffic analysis" -
> >> the estamp has enough room in its bar code to keep track of
> >> who bought the stamps. The web site doesn't indicate the
> >> data formats....
> >[snip]
> >> Bill Stewart, bill.stewart@pobox.com
> >> PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639
> >
> >Hmmm, it _has_ to in order to detect double spending. Suppose
> >you were able to capture the "stamp" at the printer port and
> >"reimport" it as a graphic format -- that stamp could be used
> >over and over.
>
> On the other hand, the system probably doesn't have to be much
> more secure than the current postage meter system.
Bill,
Although I cannot say with certainty what the current security
is for the postage meter system, some time ago I was employed
by one of the major payers in that business. The project was
to allow enabling postage at a meter without having to transport
the meter to the Post Office. The controls were sufficient on
the money side. As to usage, it was and still is my understanding
that based on a randomly selected day, they would determine the
amount of postage used by each meter number at a specific Post
Office. That audit could determine overspending, using the meter
where not authorized, and even recapture meters that had been
stolen 35 to 40 years earlier.
With this system, they could audit each _piece_ of mail at the
same time and for the same cost of validating the "stamp."
I'm reminded of discussions about vehicle transponders intended
for automatic highway toll collection with adjustable billing
features (time of day, total usage) -- and then there was a
whisper that the usage could be available for market research.
Suddenly, that system was seen as a kind of Lojack that was always
active, recorded each and every trip, and knew where you were.
-- Martin G. DiehlI am what I am. All opinions expressed within are strictly my own.
If Ziggy says "Time is what keeps everything from happening at once", and Newton teaches that Gravity brings all matter together, could we say that Time and Gravity have an antagonistic relationship?
The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Fri Aug 21 1998 - 17:16:57 ADT