<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/01/msn_belgium_id_cards/print.html>
The Register Biting the hand that feeds IT The Register » Internet and Law » Digital Rights/Digital Wrongs » Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/01/msn_belgium_id_cards/ MSN Belgium to use eID cards for online checking By Jan Libbenga (libbenga at yahoo.com) Published Tuesday 1st February 2005 14:34 GMT Microsoft will integrate the Belgian eID Card with MSN Messenger. Microsoft's Bill Gates and Belgian State Secretary for e-government Peter Vanvelthoven announced the alliance today in Brussels. "We're working to ensure that our technologies support e-ID, to help make online transactions and communications more secure," Gates said. eID stands for Electronic Identity Card. The card contains an electronic chip and gradually will replace the existing ID card system in Belgium. By end-2005, over 3 million eID cards will be distributed in the country. Microsoft believes that combined with the eID Card MSN Messenger chatrooms will be much safer. Users would have a trustworthy way of identifying themselves online. The Belgian Federal Computer Crime Unit (FCCU) could even refuse young children access to certain chatrooms based on their electronic identity. "We're not sure yet when we will be able to deliver this integration," Bill Gates said. "But developers here in Belgium and the US have proven the concept and are working already on the actual solution." -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
