Sent to me by a friend, whose identity is concealed below, something that may not be possible for much longer, if the fears of the ACLU are correct. I'm reminded of Roger Zealazny's seminal stories on this theme in My Name Is Legion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Legion_%28Zelazny_stories%29 I've been reading the horror stories on the ACLU site that opposes the Real ID law, which was literally snuck into passage in 2005 and is due to take effect in May 2008. http://www.realnightmare.org/ Today, Maine became the first state to pass a state law declaring non-cooperation with the federal Real ID law. Supposedly, there is a bill in Massachusetts about to come up to do the same thing. My driver's license expires in Nov 2007. It currently lists the following facts on its cover and in a little 2-D bar code in the back. And remember that I used to work for a company that makes barcode reading software, so yes I do know what the barcode says. :-) Middlename Lastname (the way all his records read) Mail Boxes Etc. address Town where the MBE address is located When it renews, with or without the Real ID features, I will almost certainly be forced to change this to match federal records and to use my physical address: Firstname Middlename Lastname (which do not match his existing bank records or credit cards) Physical address where he lives Physical town where he lives That will then put my DL at odds with my bank and credit card records, all of which match the existing DL. Which means my credit report with all three bureaus will get flagged as having a name and address discrepancy it never had. So all my credit card issuers will write to me, asking for clarification. To order anything on the web, your ship-to address must match what the credit card company has on file. And the whole point of having the MBE address for my ship-to address is so that I don't have to be there to sign for packages. So I don't dare change any credit card billing addresses. There will just have to be a discrepancy is all. Fortunately, I have a long, problem-free history of having things sent to the MBE address from Amazon and eBay and other major vendors. So I don't think this will really disrupt my web purchases from existing vendors. But I bet I will be unable to set up new accounts with ease. New Zealand is looking like such a lovely land ...
