Mythbusters and RFID

I just read this on Tom's Hardware site and was really intrigued....

" Adam Savage of Mythbusters, when speaking to the audience of The Last HOPE hacker conference, revealed why RFID has become a bit of a taboo topic at Discovery Channel. In response to an audience question about revisiting RFID as an episode, Adam responds, “Dude, the RFID thing. I’m sorry. It just is not going to happen. ... Here’s what happened. I’m not sure how much of this story I’m allowed to tell, but I’ll tell you what I know.” Mythbusters did cover RFID in an episode last January, but did not focus on RFID security concerns."

You can read the full story here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Mythbuster-RFID-HOPE,6313.html
The article is almost a year old, but like I said, I just ran across it.

This isnt the first time I have mentioned RFID here.
I did a couple of entries here and here back in 2008.
And I'm sure my more illustrious fellow researchers have done even more on it.

"I’m allowed to tell, but I’ll tell you what I know.”
Is that concerning copyright on the RFID chip itself?
Or something more sinister?

If you read the article above, you'll see that several of the "myths" associated with the RFID chips may not be myths at all.

If you look up CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering) and Richard Stallman, you'll see that a lot of things you may have thought were possible with RFID chips, really are.

Bush Administration: Dismiss RFID 'Mark of the Beast' Lawsuit

You know I have heard about the "Mark of the Beast" being placed on people since I was a kid.
First it was barcodes, now it's RFID chips.
But I really didn't expect the first round in this battle to be fired by Amish farmers.
But this article on Wired gives the details in what might be the first battle against Big Brother watching us so closely.
And the first victims are....cows?

Bush Administration: Dismiss RFID 'Mark of the Beast' Lawsuit
By David Kravets
The Bush administration on Thursday urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of Amish farmers in Michigan claiming RFID chips required on cattle "are a mark of the beast."
The Amish farmers claim Michigan regulations requiring them to use radio frequency identification devices on their cattle "constitutes some form of a 'mark of the beast' and/or represents an infringement of their 'dominion over cattle and all living things' in violation of their fundamental religious beliefs," according to the farmers' lawsuit filed in September in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/bush-administra.html

Farmers See 'Mark of the Beast' in RFID Livestock Tags | Threat Level from Wired.com

Farmers See 'Mark of the Beast' in RFID Livestock Tags | Threat Level from Wired.com:

"A group of community farmers, some of them Amish, are challenging rules requiring the tagging of livestock with RFID chips, saying the devices are a 'mark of the beast.'

Michigan and federal authorities say the radio frequency identification devices (RFID) will help monitor the travels of bovine and other livestock diseases.

'Use of a numbering system for their premises and/or electronic numbering system for their animals constitutes some form of a 'mark of the beast' and/or represents an infringement of their 'dominion over cattle and all living things' in violation of their fundamental religious beliefs,' according to the farmers' lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia."