IBM buys into spookware

The Register ^ | January 7, 2005 | Ashlee Vance in Chicago

[KoRn]

Ping!

[_Jim]

AS long as it is certified as being black-helicopter free I'm content ...

[sinkspur]

Paranoia.

[Prost1]

Management wanted to retire, so sold at whatever deal they could get.

Now IBM will bury the intellectual property in their morass of compartments and managers.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

There was a group called The Monitor Company, from Boston, I think, that would do this sort of work in the 80s. They worked like detectives and spent time on location at competitor's to gather info.

[ReadyNow]

"Repeatedly, NORA has proven that a map of an individual's relationships provides a more complete view of their risk or value to your organization - whether they're a customer, prospect, or employee."

Your mother was right -- don't hang around wif the wrong crowd.

[WarEagle]

Now IBM will bury the intellectual property in their morass of compartments and managers.

In its mass of information management tools, sold to customers directly and used for the management of internal business.

[dljordan]

What do you mean by paranoia? This would be an excellent business tool for Blue. Maybe they could find some way to integrate it with their subsidiary VeriChip.

It could be especially useful in uncovering tech spies such as the two Chinese they discovered at Lucent a couple of years ago. IBM isn't stupid and they don't usually waste money for no reason.

[sinkspur]

I mean the article is paranoia. I can see the value of the software, and its legitimate use.

But, some on FR think grocery store loyalty cards are Big Brother trying to figure out how much toilet paper we buy.

[_Jim]

Maybe they could find some way to integrate it with their subsidiary VeriChip.

A canine information mining system - I love it!

Secure a ton of info on people's dogs (and presumably cats too) and pet-related habits.

(Verichip is that pet-implantable ID technology isn't it?)

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[7MMmag]

Will they ever figure out I hang around FR?
And if "they" do, would it be good or bad?

I'm very proud of many freepers, though there
are a good many contributors I'd just as soon not be
associated with...

[KoRn]

"though there are a good many contributors I'd just as soon not be associated with..."

You talkin' 'bout me? lol.....jk

[infidel29]

Not just pet I.D., they're a competitor for the medical chip implant market.

[_Jim]

So, you can or you can't use them in your pet?

[infidel29]

"What do you mean by paranoia? This would be an excellent business tool for Blue. Maybe they could find some way to integrate it with their subsidiary VeriChip."

Not just VeriChip, combine this (NORA and the like) with VeriChip. Mix in a little nanotechnology (http://www.foresight.org/) for example and a little quantum dot tech (http://www.qdots.com/live/index.asp) and watch the tin foil hatters lose their minds.

[infidel29]

you can, it's a little ID/GPS tracking thing they also can hold pets or people's medical records. pet records in pets, peoples records in people.

[_Jim]

   GPS tracking thing

GPS tracking? Really?

How did they work the power budget out?

Where does the Lat/Long coordinate pair obtained from a GPS fix go?

I thought it was the larger, two-part Digital Angel product that incorporated a GPS receiver and a GPRS or CDPD modem for position fix back haul into fixed infrastructioure for display on a web site ...