Passports and licenses are so last century -- these days, sophisticated crooks can change their identity on a whim, and one particular Michigan State University researcher is looking to stay one step ahead. Anil Jain has created an automatic image retrieval system dubbed Tattoo-ID, which "includes an annotated database containing images of scars, marks and tattoos" that is "linked to the criminal history records of all the suspects and convicts who have a tattoo." Essentially, the application will give law enforcement the ability to query on permanent skin markings, which sure beats manually flipping through ginormous books of images just hoping for a match. Reportedly, Jain and his team are continuing to improve the system, but there's been no word on how long it'll take before implementation can begin. Better stay on the straight and narrow, Zune Guy Microsoft Zune.

[Via TG Daily]

Though it's typically common practice to suction that new GPS unit to your windshield just as soon as you whip it from the box, folks in California have long been unable to enjoy such luxuries outside of their own driveways. Currently, it's illegal to have navigators stuck to one's front window, and police have been handing out "obstructed view" citations for those who disregard the law in the Golden State. Now, however, the California Senate will be voting on Senate Bill 1567, which would "add an exemption for the use of a seven-inch GPS screen mounted on in the lower corner of the passenger-side windshield or a five-inch screen on the driver's side." Of course, there's still oodles of red tape (and you know, a vote) to pass through before gridlocked drivers are able to toss that NAV up at eye-level, but you've got to start somewhere, right?

[Image courtesy of RVTravel, thanks Richard]

When did the practice of lawmaking require an accompanying press release issued by a professional PR firm? An embedded photo of the sponsoring state official, too? Shameless. Nevertheless, it did bring our attention to a new law in the state of Washington which prohibits "malicious" RFID spying. When the new law (said to be a first of its kind in the US) goes into effect in July, anyone caught scanning a person remotely "without his or her knowledge and consent, for the purpose of fraud, identity theft, or some other illegal purpose" will be charged with a Class C felony. Great, so that covers the obvious criminal abuse of the technology. However, the original bill also included an opt-in measure that would require your approval before retailers and others could track your activity via that handy, store-issued discount card you carry, the implant you received during that stint in the joint, new credit card, or personal ID card you're required to carry. Unfortunately, the opt-in requirement was stricken from the bill (and therefore not in the final law) after succumbing to heavy corporate lobbying. You thinking what we're thinking? Contact information posted in the read link below.

We don't usually take much stock in proposed legislation -- Schoolhouse Rock left out the part where lobbyists gut all the good bits -- but we're willing to root for the Wireless Consumer Protection and Community Broadband Empowerment Act, currently on the floor in the House and Senate. The bill, sponsored by Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey, would require carriers to sell contract-free phones, provide rate plan information in a "clear, plain, and conspicuous manner," disclose any phone subsidies hidden in the plan's price, and offer price-comparable plans with no subsidy or early termination fee. That means you'd finally know exactly how much a plan would bill you every month including taxes and fees, it'd be easier to see how much devices like the iPhone are marked up, and most importantly, it'd be way easier to switch carriers to get better deals. The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, of which Markey is the chairman, held a hearing on the bill this morning with reps from both the wireless industry and consumer groups present, so progress is being made -- we'll see how things go.

[Via CNET]

Read - Markey's statement to open the hearings
Read - Proposed bill [PDF]

Rest assured, we've seen some brainless criminals in our day, but this one ranks pretty high on the list. Reportedly, a (potentially inebriated) individual waltzed into a police station and frantically announced that his phone had been stolen at gunpoint. When the detective called the number of the phone reportedly stolen, however, a ring was heard from the "victim's" pocket. After pondering what the criminal hoped to gain from the situation, we here at Engadget HQ came up empty, and apparently, the police involved in the situation were equally stumped -- so stumped, in fact, that they issued a statement entitled "Dumbest criminal?" with details of the event in a local newspaper. We'd say that sums it up fairly accurately.

[Image courtesy of FOTW, thanks LordFarkward]

Better late than never, right? Regardless of your feelings on said mantra, the United States of America has finally passed a law barring stores from selling incandescent light bulbs after 2012. 'Course, the EU and Australia have already decided to ditch the inefficient devices in the not-too-distant future, but a new energy bill signed into law this week throws the US into the aforementioned group. Better grab a pack of the current bulbs while you still can -- soon you'll be holding a sliver of history.

[Image courtesy of HD]

We already knew that UK motorists caught driving while texting (or vice-versa) could face a penalty of two whole years in the slammer, but now it seems that merely talking while controlling a motor vehicle could land you in the exact same predicament. Reportedly, British drivers caught chatting on a handset or sending an SMS while on the road "could be jailed" under new guidelines that are expected to be published. In the most extreme cases, they could be tagged with "dangerous driving, which carries a two-year maximum sentence and an unlimited fine." Currently, these folks simply get slapped with an "automatic fine and three points on their license under the lesser charge of careless driving." But honestly, it's not like prison would be so bad for cellphone addicts -- after all, we hear some cells over there actually provide service.

[Image courtesy of MotorTrend]

It's no secret that DirecTV has been on the hunt for content thieves for what seems like ages, but it faced a serious setback recently when "the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a default judgment against a pair of alleged DirecTV television pirates, saying an unauthorized decryption device law the company invoked against them does not apply." Apparently, the duo of defendants were brought to trial after they allegedly purchased a smart card programmer and used it for less than legal purposes (like "repairing pirate access cards disabled by DirecTV countermeasures"). But reportedly, the satellite provider has been going after folks who purchase these things, assuming that their intentions must be ill. Still, the pair in question may face lesser chargers if they did indeed break other laws, but at least individuals who like to tinker with smart card programmers can (hopefully) go about their day without worrying over the carrier breathing down their neck. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Image courtesy of CBP]

Not long after hearing about England's newfangled auto-ticketing system comes word that San Franciscans could soon be facing something similar. If signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger, "forward-facing digital video cameras would be installed on city buses," which would then be used to automatically ticket the owners of vehicles that are caught "blocking buses." The cameras would presumably be used to photograph vehicles that are in bus-only lanes, and interestingly enough, the proposed law also authorizes Municipal Transportation Agency "employees to access sensitive personal data" from the DMV for ticketing purposes.

At least those residing in the UK can breathe a momentary sigh of relief, as it's not the only locale where the amount of surveillance drones is quickly approaching the number of citizens. Reportedly, French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie recently announced that the government is planning to "triple" the existing CCTV surveillance capacities across the country, "with a view to curb the risks of terrorism and acts of violence." Beyond just bumping the amount of eyes scanning for troublemakers, she also suggested that the network of systems be more tightly connected in order to effectively "protect the French people and enable them to move freely without fearing for their lives or property." Of course, we're sure there's quite a few citizens who'd have beef with the whole "moving freely sans fear" tidbit, no?

[Via The Raw Feed]

A Texas-based company called Lonestar Inventions has sued Nintendo, claiming that the company copied one of Lonestar's patented capacitor designs and used it in the Wii. As is usual with intellectual property related lawsuits, there's a fair degree of shady business surrounding the lawsuit. For one, Lonestar didn't contact Nintendo before filing, and hasn't told the company precisely which capacitor breaches the patent holder's rights. For two, Lonestar has apparently sued other companies -- including Kodak and Freescale -- in recent times, in a similar style. It's probably not a coincidence that Lonestar's offices are located in an Austin law firm, either. Yet more evidence that the patenting system is well and truly messed up.

[Via Wall Street Journal (Paid Subscription Required)]

Ah, Texas. Home to internet hunting, overhead bananas, and WiFi'ed rest stops, the Lonestar State will set yet another precedent by passing a bill onto the governor that would ban speeding cameras and require warning signs to be posted around red-light cameras. Yes, the same state that wanted transponders in every single car registered in the state is now just one signature away from giving heavy-footed drivers something to cheer about. Both measures "were adopted in the state House by unanimous votes," and along with the speed camera ban comes legislation that will put an end to the ticketing programs run by the cities of Rhome and Marble Falls while prohibiting any other cities from enacting such practices in the future. Of course, it should be noted that the bills wouldn't go into effect until September 1st of this year, so you should probably still utilize your cruise control whilst traveling over this long weekend.

[Via Autoblog]

We're sure somewhere Drew Curtis's head is exploding over this one: submitted for your perusal, one California State Senator Carole Migden -- former voter for a state bill that fines people for using their cellphones while driving -- rear-ended her state-issued SUV into a Honda sedan on Highway 12 in Solano County, today. While on her phone. The driver of the Honda was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, although the most painful aspect of this story is surely the jaws-of-life-biting irony. Then again, at least we know Midgen's heart is in the right place; like the cleaned-up drug addict invited to tell schoolkids to stay off the dope, surely this morning more than others Midgen felt all the more confident in having voted the way she did.

[Via Raw Feed]

We resent writing about the MPAA, simply because every time the organization makes a statement it invariably exposes some aspect of its backwards perspective. This time the Association has made the rather preposterous claim that the efforts of staff and customers in preventing illegal recordings of Spider-Man 3 gave the film "a fair shot at its record-setting opening." In all, 31 people were caught illegally recording the movie, a figure which is apparently thanks to night vision equipped cinema staff (motivated by a $500 reward for each case) and reporting from the patrons themselves in a few cases. The logic that this in some way helped assure that the film would be a commercial success is shaky at best: it only takes a single recording for the film to become "pirated." And of course, if the system for detecting illegal recordings of movies is working so well, why do we still have to sit through those patronizing anti-piracy PSAs?

[Via TechDirt; Image credit]

Here in lawsuit-crazy America there's only one thing to do if you don't like a lawsuit: file another suit, claiming that the basis for the original claim was illegitimate. That's the case with a recent filed class action lawsuit against Netflix, which argues that the company's lawsuit against Blockbuster violates antitrust law because the company fraudulently concealed prior art related to patents used to sue Blockbuster. Techdirt points out that this new lawsuit highlights prior art that Netflix knew about, but failed to include in its original patent applications, something it was required to do. Yeah, that's right, the whole affair hinges around the ineffective patenting system, which is the background for dozens of other technology related lawsuits. If this class action is successful, then Netflix will be left regretting ever filing against Blockbuster; if it's not, then the company's still got a whole lot of paperwork to do in its case against Blockbuster. As always, there's one group left lovin' the whole situation: the lawyers.