Microchip Implant Controversy: a Mark of the Beast or the Coming “Singularity”?
By Jim Edwards | October 9, 2009
with remarks inserted by Judyth Vary Baker
The news that Novartis wants a deal with Proteus Biomedical to produce a microchip called “Raisin” that will text your mobile phone when it’s time to take another pill, and VeriChip’s efforts to link microchip implants to online health records, has caused two separate controversies that seem bound to collide: some Christians believe the devices are eerily similar to the “mark of the beast” as described in the book of Revelation; while “singularity” buffs — those who look forward to the merger of humans and intelligent technology — regard it as a bold step forward in improving health.
The Christians make the obvious argument. On the subject of “the beast,” Revelation 13:16-18 states:
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
The suggestion is that if the government starts requiring chip implants, then this will be a sign that the antichrist is in charge and we’re at the end of days. (Of course, the beast in question will have “two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon,” which should be easy to spot in a presidential candidate.)
The author over-simplifies the issue: currently, new cars have data recorders showing where and when the cars are driven. You can also purchase individual tracking devices. Under the advertisement header of "GPS Logger --Spouse Tracker" one learns the following:
"The disadvantage of GPS Logger is that you can not find out where a car or asset is or has been until it returns when you retrieve the GPS Logger. This is a good solution to monitor the driving behavior of a teen or employee over the past few days or weeks but will not help you find a missing car.
Now, if you are interested in tracking a device in real time, the solution for you is to get a Real-Time GPS Tracking System. The advantage of this type of device is that you can locate a car or a person at any time and see their driving history from a removed place.
No need to retrieve the device to get the information that you are looking for!"
It should be obvious that with an improvement in nanotechnology, such tracking devices could be incorporated into any human being, required under the usual excuse that only "bad"people would not want people to know where they come and go, and when. Oh, really? The time is approaching when, due to existing technology, every member of a dissident mass of people marching for peace or for better government will be identified, located, and punished, without police laying a finger on any of them. Bank accounts, credit cards, passports and medical records are already recorded in computers. Such data can be altered to convict, detain or implicate. Think that will never happen? It's already happened. Here is just one example of how faked computer data can destroy someone's life:
September 24, 2010 11:15 AM
Man jailed for planting child porn on colleague's laptop
by John E. Dunn
There are two shocking aspects to the case of the London handyman who tried to frame his school caretaker boss using planted child porn images. First, that it happened at all, second, that it took four years of hell for the accused to sort out when computer forensics clearly suggested something odd had happened.
There should be a simpler way for people to protect themselves against almost trivial digital crimes but as yet none exists.
The facts of the case: A judge at the Old Bailey yesterday jailed Neil Weiner for 12 years for placing 177 mostly 'level 4' severity child abuse images on the laptop of Eddie Thompson, caretaker of Swanlea Secondary School in East London in 2006.
The court heard that Weiner had broken the password for his boss's laptop after shoulder-surfing him, transferring images to the machine after changing file stamps to make it appear that they had been downloaded over a period of time.
He then informed on his boss under a false name and sent police a disc containing what he claimed were copies of the images. Weiner also tipped off a sensation-hungry local newspaper after his boss had been arrested and released on bail in early 2007, which turned the innocent Thompson into a social pariah.
Weiner’s motivation for the campaign was the usual mixture of stupid spite and the possibility of perhaps getting his boss’s job.
Luckily, Weiner made a number of important technical mistakes, which allowed police to help unravel the plot using computer forensics, including that the images sent to them on disc did not match the file stamps of the laptop versions.
They were also able to work out that the files had been transferred to the laptop in 31 seconds from external media and could not therefore have been downloaded from the Internet regardless of what the time stamps on them said.
When somebody is accused of possessing illegal images, forensics should be the first line of evidence. How did these images get on to the accused’s PC and does that fit with the accusation being made?
"What he did was so stupid and unnecessary. It makes me sad because what he tried to do to me is the very thing he ended up doing to himself," said Thompson of the man behind the plot, which is a generous comment in the circumstances.
The on unsettling aspect of the case is that a more expert computer user might have been able to overcome some of the forensic hurdles that helped give away the plot.
The digital world put an innocent man through four years if suffering but it should also have been able to save him sooner than it did. Perhaps it is time for security software that protects users more effectively at this basic level, logging access, file transfers and other activity.
It shouldn't take a police forensics department to head off a digital crime so simple even a school handyman was able to give it a go.
But let us return to the delights ahead for all of us, as described by the article:
On the other hand, the singularity buffs see nothing but good news. There’s an obvious advantage on the club scene, as VeriChip could replace both photo ID and cash:
Beautiful club-goers have a problem: If you’re going to wear a halter top and micro-skirt, there’s not much of anywhere to put a wallet. And who wants to carry a purse when you’re there to dance? Luckily, a company called VeriChip this year unveiled a solution based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.
More importantly, the chip that increases your compliance with your prescription — so you don’t stop taking them before the full course of pills is up — will only improve public health, the singularitarians believe:
Raisin, or any system that helps us discipline our health habits is bound to help us live longer and happier. That’s the promise of Body 2.0 and I hope that the partnership between Proteus and Novartis means that promise is gaining ground in the global marketplace.
And finally: Proteus CEO Andrew Thompson believes his company’s market opportunity could be $100 billion. This is delusional. The serious debate here is over privacy and tracking concerns, and whether anyone might be required to have an implant. The vast majority of patients and consumers simply won’t want one.
Article Ref:
http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-business/microchip-implant-controversy-a-mark-of-the-beast-or-the-coming-8220singularity-8221/3185
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