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Monday, March 24, 2003
NWO Corporate State Fascists Are Placing Spy Chips In Products World Wide
Benetton Does Mussolini Proud
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Subject: Special Benetton Alert - CASPIAN newsletter 3-24-03
From: CASPIAN Newsletter newsletter@nocards.org
To: CASPIAN Newsletter newsletter@nocards.org
Organization:
Date sent: 24 Mar 2003 11:19:13 -0500
Please forward this to others, take action yourself, and help us
spread this important message around the globe.
-- Katherine Albrecht,
CASPIAN
CONTENTS:
+ CASPIAN calls for worldwide Benetton boycott
+ "Spy chips" in clothing have ominous implications:
Moratorium needed on consumer RFID applications
+ "I'd rather go naked": Boycott Benetton website now online
+ AP Radio's "Consumer Watch" alerts nation to Benetton's plans
+ CASPIAN makes talk radio appearances across the nation
+ Boycott Benetton message reaches 1.3 million Australians
+ Has Benetton already chipped its clothes or not?
+ Dispelling the myth of "disabled at checkout"
+ Do your part: Contact the media!
======================================================================
CASPIAN CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE BENETTON BOYCOTT
======================================================================
CASPIAN is calling on consumer-citizens around the globe to BOYCOTT
BENETTON PRODUCTS until the company takes a more socially reponsible
position with regard to RFID technology. Specifically, we are asking
Benetton to:
(a) Publicly renounce its plans to equip clothing with RFID tags
(b) Provide a guarantee to customers that all garments available for
sale by Benetton are "RFID-free"
======================================================================
"SPY CHIPS" IN CLOTHING HAVE OMINOUS IMPLICATIONS;
MORATORIUM NEEDED
======================================================================
Imagine clothing imbedded with tiny computer tracking devices that
can be read at a distance -- RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)
chips. Imagine those tiny chips, linked to your identity through your
credit card information, beaming out who you are any time you pass within
three feet of a reader device.
Imagine a future where such reader devices form a pervasive "global
network," hidden in everything from doorways, carpet, and floor
tiles, to the refrigerator and medicine cabinet in your home.*
Imagine this system surveilling you and your personal effects from
dawn until dusk, everywhere you go, in airports, seaports, highways, and
retail stores.*
Imagine a world of no more privacy.
Now imagine an Italian fashion company kicking off this future with
the announcement that it has put RFID tracking chips into 15 million
of its garments -- garments to be worn by unsuspecting young men and
women in 160 of the earth's countries.
Benetton made that announcement earlier this month, launching a
shocked public into a debate it did not even realize it needed to
have. Whether or not Benetton realizes the societal implications of
tagging clothing with RFID devices, the company cannot be allowed to
unleash powerful surveillance technology on a society almost wholly
ignorant of its existence -- and unprepared to protect itself against it.
To allow time for all interested citizens to get "up to speed" on
what RFID remote surveillance technology is and what it can do,
CASPIAN is calling on all consumer goods manufacturers and retailers to
impose an immediate worldwide moratorium on RFID applications impacting
consumers until a full public review of the technology can be conducted.
================
*Each example above, from the airport, to the floor tiles, to the
refrigerator, is drawn directly from statements and writings of
individuals at the highest levels of involvement in RFID technology.
Citations are available upon request.
======================================================================
"I'D RATHER GO NAKED": BOYCOTT BENETTON WEBSITE IS ONLINE
======================================================================
Our Boycott Benetton website is now online. Many thanks to our
dedicated, professional volunteers for creating the site.
http://www.boycottbenetton.org
If you manage web content anywhere on the Internet, please consider
linking to this site.
======================================================================
AP RADIO'S "CONSUMER WATCH" ALERTS NATION TO BENETTON "SPY CHIP" STORY
======================================================================
Millions of AP Radio affiliate listeners in dozens of US cities heard a
one-minute "Consumer Watch" story this weekend warning of Benetton's spy
chip plans and spotlighting CASPIAN's call for a worldwide boycott.
The story blanketed the nation from one end to the other. AP
affiliate radio stations include: WTOP Washington D.C.; WBBM Chicago; KABC
Los Angeles; KOA Denver; KRLD Dallas, WSM Nashville; WSV Atlanta; KCMO
Kansas City; WLS Chicago; KFAS Omaha; WCCO Minneapolis; WJR Detroit; WHAS
Louisville; WLW Cincinatti; WWL New Orleans; KING Seattle, and many more.
======================================================================
CASPIAN MAKES TALK RADIO APPEARANCES ACROSS THE NATION
======================================================================
Public response to the Benetton announcement has been overwhelming!
CASPIAN director Katherine Albrecht (who, in addition to being a
Harvard doctoral student is a former television co-host), has made
numerous talk radio appearances across the country to discuss the
issues involved. It has been heartening to hear radio listeners from
Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Dallas, and everywhere in between, call in to
voice their opposition to Benetton's plans and their unanimous support for
the boycott.
======================================================================
BOYCOTT BENETTON MESSAGE REACHES 1.3 MILLION IN AUSTRALIA
======================================================================
1.3 millions Australians read about Benetton's clothing tracking
plans and CASPIAN's calls for a worldwide boycott this weekend in the
Sydney Morning Herald:
"Benetton Chip Plan Under Fire"
Kirsty Needham, Sydney Morning Herald,
Sydney, Australia, March 22, 2003
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/21/1047749940587.html
Privacy advocates have called for a worldwide boycott of Benetton
after the fashion label revealed plans to implant 15 million
microchips into its garments.... a group called Consumers Against
Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering has warned the chips may
be used to track shoppers for marketing and may threaten customers'
privacy.
"Benetton could easily link your name and credit card information to
the serial number in your sweater," said the group's US director,
Katherine Albrecht. "Then any time you go near a radio frequency
reader device the sweater could beam out your identity to anyone with
access to the database."
The group has asked consumers to avoid Benetton products until the
company renounces the technology. Benetton's Australasian office said many
consumers had expressed concern at the reports.
[snip]
-------------
The story was also covered in "The Age" (Australia) with the title:
"Label on the Outer" By Kirsty Needham, March 22 2003
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/21/1047749940761.html
The Sydney Morning Herald 1.3 million Saturday readership figures
come from:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/21/1037697813131.html
======================================================================
HAS BENETTON CHIPPED ITS CLOTHES OR NOT?
======================================================================
Philips' press release says that Benetton garments have ALREADY been
fitted with RFID tags, but in recent interviews Benetton claims that it
has not yet tagged any garments. Which is it? We'll keep you posted as we
find out.
1. YES: Press release dated March 11, 2003:
"Clothes produced under Benetton's core brand Sisley have been fitted with
RFID-enabled labels based on Philips' I.CODE semiconductor technology."
2. NO: Sydney Morning Herald article dated March 22, 2003:
"a spokeswoman from Benetton's Italian head office stressed that no
garments now contained the chips."
3. NO: AP Radio "Consumer Watch" interview dated March 21, 2003
Federico Sartor, Head of Benetton's Press Office in Italy, also said
that no Benetton clothing has been fitted with the chips
Which is it, Benetton? You can't have it both ways.
Sources:
1. http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/news/content/file_936.html
2. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/21/1047749940587.html
3.Personal communication with Mike Rogers, Consumer Watch producer
======================================================================
DISPELLING THE MYTH OF "DISABLED AT CHECKOUT"
======================================================================
Benetton is claiming that it will disable the garment tracking chips
at checkout, but the truth is that the tracking chips CANNOT BE
PERMANENTLY DISABLED, they can only put into "sleep" mode. Anyone
with a reactivation device within three feet of the chip can turn it
back on again at any time -- without the wearer's knowledge or
permission. Three feet is more than enough distance to reactivate the chip
when a person walks through any doorway equipped with such a device.
Benetton's claim:
"Benetton...said it was possible to deactivate the chip when the
shopper left the shop."
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/21/1047749940587.html
Here are the Philips technical specs explaining how easy it is to
turn the chip back on:
"The Special Functions block holds the two EAS bits (Electronic
Article Surveillance mode active -> the label answers the EAS
command) as well as the two QUIET bits (QUIET mode enabled -> the
label is permanently disabled but can be activated again with the
"Reset QUIET Bit" command.) The state of QUIET mode does not
influence the functionality of the EAS command."
http://www.semiconductors.philips.com/acrobat/other/identification/sl0 48112.pdf
By the way, Japanese manufacturers are working on a $20 hand-held
RFID chip reader, which will put tracking and remote ID technology
within the range of the average person (including the neighborhood
voyeur).
See: http://216.121.131.129/article/articleview/279/1/1/
======================================================================
DO YOUR PART, CONTACT THE MEDIA!
======================================================================
In addition to forwarding this message to everyone you know, please
take a few minutes to forward it to television, radio, and print
media.
The link below will help you quickly find media outlets in your area
and around the United States where you can forward this message.
http://congress.org/stickers/?dir=congressorg&media=1
If you are a member of the media and would like to request an
interview with a CASPIAN spokesperson, please contact Katherine
Albrecht kma@nocards.org or Mary Starrett mstarrett@nocards.org
Please include the words "media request" and your organization name in the
subject line.
======================================================================
CASPIAN - Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and
Numbering
A national consumer organization opposing retail surveillance schemes
since 1999
http://www.nocards.org
We encourage you to duplicate and distribute this message to others.
==========================================================
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CASPIAN mailing list, click the
following link or cut and paste it into your browser:
http://www.nocards.org/cgi/mojo/mojo.cgi
If you have difficulty with the web-based interface, you may also
subscribe or unsubscribe via email by writing to:
admin@nocards.org
==========================================================
For CASPIAN's overview of RFID product identification and tracking
technology, please see: http://www.nocards.org/AutoID/overview.shtml
For a recent Boston Globe article highlighting CASPIAN's opposition
to RFID technology see:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/076/business/Privacy_advocate_warns_of_microchip_invasion+.shtml
==========================================================
posted by Vetzine
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