An RFID solution to rush hour headaches?

[BillyC]

This is crazy, it never ends.

http://news.com.com/An%2BRFID%2Bsolution%2Bto%2Brush%2Bhour%2Bheadaches/2100-1039_3-6046130.html

An IBM traffic system being tested in Stockholm, Sweden, reduced rush hour congestion by 25 percent during its first month of operation, and Big Blue wants to bring the technology to the states.
The system revolves around a concept that would be political suicide in many parts of the world. Under the program, Stockholm charges drivers to be on the road, and payment is made through RFID tags. Still, large metropolitan areas in other parts of the globe are increasingly looking at ways to clamp down on congestion and pollution, either by charging fees or through restrictive regulations. In New Delhi, for instance, diesel buses are prohibited. And drivers in London must pay tolls when entering high-congestion areas.

[BillyC]

Stockholm charges drivers to be on the road, and payment is made through RFID tags.

This is pretty much what EZ Pass is, isn't it?

To a point yes.
But if I understand the article, they "eventually" want to force an "RFID" toll tax on all drivers!
Not just those looking for convenience and the toll booth.

I dont see this as a way to just get taxes I see thia as a way to track the population.

[Dreepa]

In SoCal there is a toll road that changes the price depending on the volume of traffic.

[BaRbArIaN]

http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=5573

New Jersey is using EZ pass to monitor people *not on toll roads* as well.  Ostensibly for traffic flow monitoring, it really isn't a big stretch for abuse as "click N snoop".    Next step may be making them mandatory.

[srqrebel]

This is scary precisely because it is in the hands of an aggression-based criminal monoply.  You can bet the criminal gang will use such systems to increasingly enslave individuals, because power over others is their only motivation.

Yet there is a silver lining: This very technology illustrates how the civilian owned and operated roads of the coming Free Market Civilization will be paid for, efficiently and fairly, in stark contrast to the coercive taxes of the current AMOG.

One of the most commonly voiced objections to Free Market Civilization is, "How would roads be paid for?"  When I try to describe this kind of technology, allowing a road user to subscribe to private "road service" with a monthly bill based on usage and perhaps roaming charges, much like cell phone service, all I usually get is a blank stare or a smirk.  Perhaps this will enable folks to finally comprehend this concept.

Once people understand how this can work, it's a simple task to illustrate why this technology needs to be in the hands of those who seek to serve (profit-motivated free market businesses) instead of enslave (power-motivated monopolized crime).

[Michael Fisher]

Awareness is control. If someone knows too much about me, then they are one small step from controlling me.

I will not blindly trust even free-market entities to know about me or to control me. I will demand my privacy, especially in a free market, where such demands would actually make a difference.

[srqrebel]

In an AMOG-free, Free Market Civilization you would certainly be free to hide from all monsters, real or perceived -- without fear of aggression.

Long-term profit motivation ensures that free market businesses will handle your private info with kid gloves -- and use it for two things only: Efficient target marketing of their products and services, and ostracism of criminals.  Anyone that would use it for sinister purposes would be ostracized so rapidly and decisively that it be foolish to even think about it.

Marketing is the heartbeat of the free market.  Yet if one personally objects to being marketed to, in the absence of the AMOG there is nothing to stop one from hiding personal info -- it would just be self-limiting in terms of effective interaction with society at large.

[srqrebel]

Awareness is control. If someone knows too much about me, then they are one small step from controlling me.

...it just occurred to me what you are saying here

Indeed, awareness is a necessary element of control.  That does not mean that those who are aware of your identity and movement, necessarily control you.

Awareness of those you interact with, is essential to effective, informed self-control.  The Free Market will, of course, reflect that fact.

The AMOG takes advantage of that fact, by usurping personal information made available by this necessity, for the criminal purpose of controlling others, rather than applying it for the valid purpose of informed self-control.  Remove the AMOG from the equation, and such criminal minded activities diminish into oblivion -- for the very driving force of the free market is the reciprocal will of each individual.  Such actions would not be profitable in the Free Market Civilization, for the desire of any individual to be in control of oneself outweighs the desire to control others, and the free market simply mirrors individual will.

Only the obsolete AMOG makes it possible for certain individuals to usurp control over others, while still satisfying the primary need to be in control of themselves.