Ultimately a firm creates wealth by acting as a central point of exchange of resources between the constituents of the business.

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Fortunately, these firms all had a chance to defend themselves, and ultimately convinced courts that they were acting within the law.

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Ultimately, the technology could go either way, acting as an effective method of cross-checking people across a vast security network as they move from country to country, or evolving into an omnipresent grid of surveillance that will spread viruses and confine us all to our homes lest we feel the wrath of cyber criminals or high-tech fascists.

ENGADGET: RFID Passports coming to the US in August