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Government Privacy The Almighty Buck

Electronic Transaction Reporting Slipped Into Senate Bill 343

StealthyRoid writes "The Senate mortgage bill proposed by Sen. Chris Dodd (who was the recipient of a sweetheart deal on his mortgage from Countrywide, one of the beneficiaries of the bill) includes an attempt to sneak into law a requirement that all electronic payment processors send detailed transaction data to the federal government. The proposed law contains an exception for businesses with fewer than 200 transactions or a total value less than $10,000. Quoting FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey (former House majority leader) from the article: 'This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking.'" This is the same bill that contains a controversial provision to fingerprint all mortgage brokers.
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Electronic Transaction Reporting Slipped Into Senate Bill

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  • There is no danger if you have nothing to hide obviously.

    But just to be safe, might want to hold out on that "McCain is evil" book purchase. Just in case, you know?

    Note to moderators: this entire post, barring this line, is sarcastic.

  • by Jaysyn ( 203771 ) on Friday June 20, 2008 @08:58AM (#23871773) Homepage Journal

    ... to tax you with, my dear.

  • by chill ( 34294 ) on Friday June 20, 2008 @09:07AM (#23871865) Journal

    Hey! He still has a few months left. There is a possibility -- however slim -- that TWO good things could come from this administration!

  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 20, 2008 @09:11AM (#23871899)

    The real Chris Dodd is a Democrat, but in this case his body has obviously been taken over by those havoc-wreaking Republicans! Invasion of privacy means nothing to them! To think that they have stooped to such base levels of taking over a Democrat's body just to serve their cause!

    It is best not to refer to him as a Democrat until it is proved that it is the real Chris Dodd. In fact for the time being it would probably be best to say "A man who claims to be Chris Dodd..."

    Now, if it turns out that it is the real Chris Dodd, then of course we have full confidence that his motives are to further, in the best way possible, the social and environmental causes that are vital to this country's continued existence!

  • by arotenbe ( 1203922 ) on Friday June 20, 2008 @09:15AM (#23871949) Journal

    doesnt this mean that all products are now just loaned to you, you no longer actually own anything you buy? next will there be property tax on bags of chips? or your cupboard space?
    I can see it now...

    This bag of crisp potato products ("CHIPS") is licensed, not sold. LAY'S reserves the exclusive right to change the flavor of the CHIPS at any time.
  • Kill Bill (Score:4, Funny)

    by Sethus ( 609631 ) on Friday June 20, 2008 @09:29AM (#23872103)
    Is it just me, or does this just scream "I want to kill this bill by tacking on all sorts of unrelated things that are completely irrelevant so no one will vote for it, because everyone will hate something about it".
  • by Arccot ( 1115809 ) on Friday June 20, 2008 @09:44AM (#23872337)

    Hey! He still has a few months left. There is a possibility -- however slim -- that TWO good things could come from this administration!

    The 1st good thing being he's leaving?
  • by sorak ( 246725 ) on Friday June 20, 2008 @10:07AM (#23872663)

    Considering that it was slipped in by a Democrat (Dodd) and the person blowing the whistle is a Republican (Armey) you might want to warn people about not purchasing the equivalent "Obama Is Evil" book.

    You know how you can tell the party affiliations on a Slashdot story? If its negative about a Republican the summary almost always mentions it. If its negative about a Democrat they usually just say "Senator" or 'Congressman" with no party affiliation.

    The republican who said that is wrong!
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 20, 2008 @10:24AM (#23872887)

    and I've read enough comments to know that kdawson is so rabidly biased towards liberals that he/she would NEVER post an article even remotely critical of the democrats.

    Obviously this post doesn't exist. I am actually your subconscious and I'm using this comment to urge you to seek help for what must be a rapidly deteriorating psychosis. I may try to alert you in other ways through out the rest of the day. Keep your eyes open for things like dogs loving cats, attractive women flirting with you, or console fanboys of all persuasions living together in harmony; I will only attempt to contact you through paradoxes.

    I guess it's also possible that kdawson's account was hacked, but that seems like a long shot.

  • by russotto ( 537200 ) on Friday June 20, 2008 @10:28AM (#23872961) Journal

    but when the right points out that Dodd got an effective bribe from a mortgage company before authoring a bill favoring that company, it's an attack?

    To be fair to Dodd, _anyone_ could get a sweet deal from Countrywide... that's why they're in so much trouble.

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