Tuesday, February 27, 2007

RFID - Don’t Fold Up Your Tent

RFID Law Journal
Newsletter No. 43
February 27, 2007

Kudos to Bill Hardgrave, Ph.D., Director of RFID Research Center, University of Arkansas, for publishing a rebuttal to The Wall Street Journal’s recent article entitled “Wal-Mart’s Radio Tracked Inventory Hits Static” (February 15, 2007) in a special edition to the RFID Product News published on February 23, 2007. You can access Dr. Hardgrave’s article through the following link provided by RFID Product News:

http://www.rfidproductnews.com/reader/spe01/articles/index.php#one

© 2007 – RFID Law Journal, LLC. All rights reserved.

Learn more about RFID legal issues at http://www.rfidlawjournal.com/. You may contact our editor about this publication at editor@RFIDLawJournal.com. Usage of this material (and any linked materials provided by third party sites) is subject to the terms and conditions set forth at http://www.rfidlawjournal.com/.
You may not rely upon any material provided herein as legal, financial or other advice. You should consult your own advisor (legal, investment or otherwise) with respect to the advisability or accuracy of any of the material provided in this newsletter or any other material provided by us. We are not responsible for and do not attest to the accuracy of any third party content.
Border Tracking Efforts Abandoned

RFID Law Journal
Newsletter No. 42
February 27, 2007

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) abandoned its substantial effort to deploy RFID in connection with its US VISIT program based upon, among other things, inadequate read rates and the inability of the system to tie back the data with the individual carrying the tagged travel document.

The RFID application envisioned embedding a tag within the I-94 travel document, aiming to facilitate secure border entry/exit by foreign nationals. However, during the course of a 15 month study, it was found that the biometric identity-matching capability envisioned within the entry/exit security system was ineffective because the I-94 form couldn’t be physically tied to individuals. The GAO also cited examples of poor read rates at five ports of entry tested as part of the US VISIT program.

© 2007 – RFID Law Journal, LLC. All rights reserved.

Learn more about RFID legal issues at http://www.rfidlawjournal.com. You may contact our editor about this publication at editor@RFIDLawJournal.com. Usage of this material (and any linked materials provided by third party sites) is subject to the terms and conditions set forth at www.rfidlawjournal.com.
You may not rely upon any material provided herein as legal, financial or other advice. You should consult your own advisor (legal, investment or otherwise) with respect to the advisability or accuracy of any of the material provided in this newsletter or any other material provided by us. We are not responsible for and do not attest to the accuracy of any third party content.
Final “Interim” DoD RFID Rule

RFID Law Journal
Newsletter No. 41
February 27, 2007

Effective as of February 12, 2007, the Department of Defense’s interim RFID rule, which had initially been proposed on May 19, 2006, became final, effectively extending its passive RFID tagging rules to additional classes of commodities as well as expanding from two U.S. depot locations to most locations in the 48 contiguous states. Our readers can access these rules and related comments at the following link:

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-2209.htm

It should be noted that this latest iteration of the rules is merely finalization of an “interim” rule, and in the spring of 2007, it is expected that a new set of even more expansive rules will likely be put into effect as the Department of Defense rolls into the third – and final – year of its three year deployment effort. Now that the Department of Defense has, indeed, wired its U.S. depots, and has contracted for the wiring of its OCONUS depots, it is expected that the DoD will be administering ever more stringent requirements on its suppliers as it seeks to realize cost efficiencies with trading partners across its supply chain.


© 2007 – RFID Law Journal, LLC. All rights reserved.

Learn more about RFID legal issues at http://www.rfidlawjournal.com. You may contact our editor about this publication at editor@RFIDLawJournal.com. Usage of this material (and any linked materials provided by third party sites) is subject to the terms and conditions set forth at www.rfidlawjournal.com.
You may not rely upon any material provided herein as legal, financial or other advice. You should consult your own advisor (legal, investment or otherwise) with respect to the advisability or accuracy of any of the material provided in this newsletter or any other material provided by us. We are not responsible for and do not attest to the accuracy of any third party content.