Source:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116598078991348617-ixe9zZfYn1035s3P88WdMJZDTTI_20071213.html?mod=blogs

TSA Approves Scanner That Will Let Fliers Who Pay Keep Their Shoes On

LAURA MECKLER
Wall St Journal
Thursday, December 14, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government approved new technology that will
automatically scan shoes and boots for bombs, and promises that
travelers will soon be spared the trouble of scurrying through security
in their socks. But the new machines will be available only to travelers
who pay to join a special program, at least at first.

The shoe-scanner approval will give a crucial boost to the Registered
Traveler program, which is designed to provide faster airport security
screening, via a special security line, to travelers who sign up in
advance and undergo a background check. But the program, to be run by
private companies under the supervision of the Transportation Security
Administration, has languished for years, and currently is operating
only in Orlando, Fla.

The shoe scanner is expected to draw customers to the program because
not only will it speed up lines. It will also offer another perk --
remaining shod -- to attract customers willing to pay annual fees of
about $100.

"We've always said that Registered Traveler has to be more than a
front-of-the-line program," says Steven Brill, chief executive of
Verified Identity Pass Inc., which operates the Registered Traveler
program in Orlando. A handful of other companies also want to offer
Registered Traveler programs at airports.

Travelers who join the programs will undergo background checks, and then
get biometric cards designed to work at any airport's Registered
Traveler kiosks, where iris scans or fingerprints would match the person
with his or her ID card. Those kiosks are designed to be used in
conjunction with existing carry-on baggage X-ray machines and metal
detectors.

The speedy handling of known travelers is designed to free up the TSA to
focus on other passengers, who may pose a greater risk. Private
companies that take part in the program must be approved by the TSA and
compete to win contracts from airports to provide the service.
Interoperable technology will allow customers of any given company to
use another company's security lines when traveling through various
airports.

The shoe scanner is part of a kiosk developed by General Electric Co.'s
GE Security, which is a minority investor in Verified. Passengers step
onto a platform with hip-level walls and enter identifying information
on the touch screen. Meanwhile, their shoes are scanned for bombs from
below, and residue from their fingers is analyzed to detect trace
amounts of explosive material.

"We're comfortable with the level of the security that the shoe scanner
provides," said Christopher White, a spokesman for the TSA. The TSA says
it will examine each airport's setup before giving each site the
go-ahead to dispense with shoe removal.

Verified and GE Security hope that, in the future, the use of this trace
detector will eliminate the need for passengers to take off their
jackets when they walk through security. The TSA has yet to approve the
trace detector. The kiosk, including both the shoe scanner and the trace
detector, has been undergoing testing at Orlando.

Verified has bought 20 of the kiosks for use at the airports where it
has contracts to operate Registered Traveler programs. It plans to
launch operations at John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal 7,
which is run by British Airways, as early as next week. The company
plans to follow at three more airports -- in Cincinnati, San Jose,
Calif., and Indianapolis -- in the coming weeks. It is charging
passengers $99.95 per year.


Not everyone is enthused about Registered Traveler. The major airline
trade group, the Air Transport Association, has tried to dissuade
airports from signing on, arguing that it will deliver little benefit
while distracting the TSA from other priorities such as developing a new
system for monitoring passenger lists for the names of suspected
terrorists. In addition, airlines already offer special security lines
to first-class and most-frequent fliers at some airports, and Registered
Traveler could wind up competing with this and other airline-provided
perks.

The other companies competing for Registered Traveler contracts also
promise to buy advanced screening equipment once it is approved for use
by the TSA. That technology, which is in various stages of development,
is designed to ease the three major headaches of airport screening:
removing shoes, jackets and laptops from their cases.

Unisys Corp., which has signed up the airport in Reno, Nev., is
considering buying the shoe scanners but is also looking at backscatter
technology, which the TSA is now testing in Phoenix. Backscatter is an
X-ray that can see through clothing to detect threatening objects that
might be hidden. This technology should allow passengers to keep shoes
and jackets on as they pass through security, said Larry Zmuda, who
heads the Registered Traveler program for Unisys. "We're going to try
and push for multiple benefits and not just shoes."

A third major player is Saflink Corp., which hasn't yet won an airport
contract. It is focusing on building relationships with charitable
groups, universities, professional sports teams and trade associations
that would offer the company's card, called Fast Lane Option, at a
discount or as a fund-raising device for the organization.

All three companies are developing packages of various travel and
nontravel related perks, ranging from discounts on airport parking and
merchandise to credit card and offers and deals on mortgage rates.

Any new technology used for Registered Traveler is being paid for by the
private companies. The new GE kiosks, for instance, cost more than
$150,000 each. That might be too expensive for the federal government to
buy and install for the use of all air travelers. But the government
will monitor the performance of the machines and could wind up buying
them down the road.

"The people who travel the most ... will finance development of
technology for everybody else," says Mr. Brill. "That's a pretty good
model."

so much for that idea

Ah yes..pay your way to access to death and destruction right?

Oopps...not that people who can pay are potential terrorists.

We all know only people of color, non-Christians, foreigners, the poor unwashed and those "other" people are dangerous...hahaha

So, feel safer now?

Oh...here is something I find kind of entertaining. We have posters here who think that restrictions on travel, searches, wiretapping and all that are good stuff to ensure our freedom ( a false trade but oh well) but who decry things like universal health care because it scares them..you know the government having all that control over your choices...

HA HA HA

Oh well...that's another thread.

Watch out for those sleeper cells! They might be able to fly first class.