Microchip Leads Missing Ore. Dog Home - AP
For five years, Frances Jackson looked everywhere for her missing dog, Millie, who had run beneath a truck in 1999, then disappeared. But in the end, it was a microchip that brought the black Labrador retriever home. The dog had been fitted with a microchip that identified her as belonging to Jackson, and when she was picked up as a stray and taken to the Humane Society of the Willamette Valley, Jackson got the call.

Wal-Mart Hits Snags in Push to Use Radio Tags to Track Goods - NYT
Wal-Mart has been forced to revise its timetable for requiring suppliers to put radio frequency tags on their shipments.

Internet Group Defends Its Stewardship - AP
The U.S. government-sanctioned organization that oversees the Internet's all-important 'telephone book' defended its work Friday as diplomats and computer companies considered a greater role for the United Nations. Paul Twomey, the chief executive of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, said the organization is already trying to modernize and allow participation from other countries.

European group researches polymer RFID chips - InfoWorld
Several electronics manufacturers and research institutes in Europe have joined forces in a European Union-funded project aimed at developing low-cost, polymer-based electronic circuits...The group has coined the term "ambient intelligence" to define the general focus of its work. The goal is to integrate a variety of electronic functions, such as sensing, computing and information storage, into a wide range of materials, including consumer packaging, and to enable all these to communicate via low-cost radio frequency technology, according to Stockdill.

Gov't Halts Internet Identity Theft Scam - AP
Federal officials have shut down an identity theft scam in which a Houston man tricked Internet users into providing their credit card and bank account numbers.

Sony, Infineon develop multi-function IC cards - AFP
Sony said it has jointly developed a hi-tech card which will enable users to clear a railway ticket gate, withdraw cash from a bank machine and pay a restaurant bill.

World Banks Working to Stop Counterfeiting - AP
The world's major central banks confirmed Tuesday that they collaborated with leading hardware and software companies to keep personal computers from being used to make counterfeit money. Work begun nearly four years ago by the so-called Group of Ten central banks resulted in the 'counterfeit deterrence system,' according to the statement from the Bank for International Settlements in Basel."

German Airport to Get Biometric Security - AP
Frankfurt airport and Lufthansa airline employees will be able to pass security checks by scanning their biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris patterns, under a pilot project announced Friday.

‘ Biometric big brother ’ to watch EU - EUpolitix
Post-September 11 Brussels proposals to include digital ‘biometric’ identifiers in all European passports are set to spark a row over privacy rights.

Malaysia's mote-sized RFID chip attracts attention - The Star - Malaysia
The Malaysia Microchip (MM) project has attracted strong interest from a number of countries...

RFID revolution: Are we close? - CNET News
... The issues range from safeguarding data the tiny chips transmit to managing the reams of data RFID readers gather.

ICANN Fleshes Out Global Ambitions - InternetNews.com

Target Phasing Out 'Smart' Visa Cards - Reuters
Retailing giant Target Corp. is phasing out computer chips on its Target Visa cards due to limited shopper use, dealing a setback to proponents of "smart card" technology.