Page 4
August 11, 1999
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< J o c u sJ >
M IL L E N N IA
C □ U N T D O
T h e In t e r n e t C o m m is s io n
By Thomas Frey
banking industry.
Contributing Writer from the
Pre-paid Credit Cards
DaVinci Institute
While black-market currency is
blazing a cancerous trail through
In the year 2000, extrem e prob
lems will begin to arise on the
internet. Ever since its
in c e p tio n ,
th e
in te r n e t has
o p e ra te d
w ith th e
same disci
pline as a
g o ld -
rn i n i n g
tow n in
th e
m id-
1800s. Boast
ing o n -lin e
gambling, pros
titu tio n , freak
shows and snake
oil salesmen, it at
tracts am bitious
people willing to
risk everything
to m ake th e ir
fortune on this
techy v ersio n of
staking a gold mining
claim in a wild west town.
"Black
Market"Currency
New encryption program s make
it possible for people to transm it
and receive business transactions
in secret. T his gives rise to a whole
new underground smuggling trade
dealing in drugs, stolen m erchan
dise, and other illegal contraband.
T h is a p p a r e n tly im p e n e tra b le
shroud of secrecy sim ultaneously
em boldens and cultivates a new
breed of unscrupulous internet busi
nessmen willing to break all the
rules of decency and order.
Banking industry officials ac
knowledge the presence of “black
m arket” currency, which hack art
ists have m anaged to fabricate from
thin air with a nearly undetectable
“decimal point shift" virus. T he
presence of black-market currency
threatens the integrity of the entire
the economy, a
more positive economic innovation
will be taking place. Inspired by the
success of prepaid phone cards, the
M astercard Corporation introduces
a prepaid $10 credit card to be sold
at all major retail outlets. O ther
denom inations of the credit card
are planned for later release. This
prepaid credit card is a one-time use
card, and once its credit has been
used, it is thrown away. Mastercard
makes this a profitable venture by
devising a highly autom ated system
for handling these transactions and
by charging a comparatively high
discount rate for small transactions.
This innovative card now makes it
possible for all people, including
Between The Sheets..
children, to have access to a credit
card, som ething previously thought
to be unconscionable.
Although conceived as a very
positive innovation, the pre-paid
c re d it card creates an
unforseen problem -
it leaves no paper
trail. W hile it is
p o ssib le
to
»
trace the begin-
t
n in g a n d en d
■
p o in ts o f th e
’
tra n sa c tio n , th e
actual owner of the
credit card and re
cipient of the item
sold are not known.
As a result, teenagers
soon know how to ac
cess
th e
paid por-
B
n o g ra -
P h y
s e r
v ic e s .
In addi
tio n , a
g ro w in g
underworld
establishes a
bold new distri
bution of narcot
ics and other con
traband. Using the pre
paid credit card is much
the same as a cash trans
action, only the seller and
purchaser may be thou
sands of miles apart.
O u tra g e d
p a re n ts
reach a boiling point over
the decadent and subver
sive m aterials that their
kids have access to. The
FBI and local law enforce
ment spend an inordinate
am ount of time trying to
figure out how to deal with
the black market currency
and the bold distribution
of narcotics and other con
tra b a n d . C o n g ressm en
of Paper
1 HANNIBAL Thomas Harris, Delacorte, $27.95
2 MOTHER OF PEARL Melinda Haynes, Hyperion, $23.95
3 GRANNY DAN Danielle Steele, Delacorte Press, $19.95
4 WHITE OLEANDER Janet Fitch, Little, Brown, $24
5 THE GIRL’S GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING Melissa Bank, Viking, $23.95
6 THE TESTAMENT John Grisham, Doubleday, $27.95
7 TRUE AT FIRST LIGHT Ernest Hemingway, Scribner, $26
8 McNALLY’S DILEMMA Lawrence Sanders, Putnam, $24.95
9 THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON Stephen King Scribner, $16.95
10 LAKE NEWS Barbara Delinsky, Scribner, $24
and Senators struggle to understand
the causes of the rapidly eroding
tax base, and some threaten to pull
the plug on the internet. Does the
right to free speech also include the
right to make secret encrypted busi
ness transactions? Television and
radio shows make these issues a hot
topic of discussion, and the whole
country begins to wrestle with the
problem.
Internet Commission
W ith a high degree of reluctance,
the US finally turns to the UN for a
solution. A hastily called United N a
tions Summit is convened to deal
with this very issue. Many in the US
and other countries voice their dis
taste over the UN’s role in solving
this worldwide crisis, but no other
true global governm ental entity ex
ists. W ith much prodding from the
US to move this authority to some
entity other than the UN, the UN
votes to establish an autonom ous
com mission to govern the internet
and world wide web. T he com m is
sion is given sweeping powers and
authority to control internet com
merce, im plem ent a system of oper
ating standards, and to search out
and elim inate crim inal activity.
Virtual Country
A fter a few m onths of o p era
tion, an unusual proposal em erges
for the com m ission to decide upon.
A group of in d iv id u als has come
forw ard with a plan for sta rtin g a