| IX. | The Spread of Human Microchip Implants: General |
| Posted: November 25, 2003 |
| A. | Spread of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Chips: EE Times: January 7, 2002 |
| Discussion of the spread of radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips in general, and in humans specifically, is reminiscent of talk about the slow spread of Electronic Fund Transfer and related Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) in the 1970s and early 1980s. |
| Radio-frequency identification chips, which have found a home in applications ranging from toll road passes to smart retail shelves, may be close to taking up residence in the human body. |
| A Florida-based company has introduced a passive RFID chip that is compatible with human tissue, and the developer is proposing the chip for use on implantable pacemakers, defibrillators and artificial joints... |
| Called the VeriChip, the device could open up a broad new segment for the $900 million-a-year RFID business, especially if society embraces the idea of using microchips for human identification... |
| "The human market for this technology could be huge," said Keith Bolton, senior vice president of technology development at the company. |
| Futurists agree that the idea of using microchips inside the body could ultimately represent a large market opportunity, but they doubt whether this initial effort will have a significant effect on the RFID market. |
| "Are we going to see chips embedded in the human body? You bet we are," said Paul Saffo, a director of The Institute for the Future (Menlo Park, Calif.). "But it isn't going to happen overnight"... |
| Whether the technology will boost the market for RFID chips remains uncertain. Industry analysts had assumed that by now RFID would constitute a far larger market than its current, $900 million annual tally. |
| A consortium of major manufacturers has sought to push the technology as a replacement for bar codes in everyday products ranging from cereal boxes to shaving cream cans, but the cost hasn't dropped low enough to make that feasible. More recently, a group led by the European Central Bank began work on embedding RFID chips in the euro bank note, but the chip category has yet to find its killer app. |
| Applied Digital nonetheless has high hopes for its RFID technology...228 |
| B. | Youth Interest In Microchip Implants: Applied Digital Solutions Chief Technology Officer Keith Bolton: "They Want Their ID Chips Now," Wired News: February 6, 2002 |
| A February 6, 2002 Wired News article entitled, "They Want Their ID Chips Now," comments on the interest among youth in being implanted with microchips. |
| The chip in question, the VeriChip, is similar to the biochips that have been used to identify pets and livestock for years. |
| Made by Applied Digital Solutions (ADS), the VeriChip stores six lines of text and is slightly larger than a grain of rice. It emits a 125-kHz radio frequency signal that can be picked up by a special scanner up to four feet away... |
| Since the VeriChip was announced in December, the company has been bombarded with queries from people interested in the device, [ADS chief technology officer Keith] Bolton said. |
| Since the VeriChip was announced in December, the company has been bombarded with queries from people interested in the device, [ADS chief technology officer Keith] Bolton said. |
| "Right now we have over 2,000 kids who have e-mailed, wanting to have the chip implanted," he said. "They think it's cool." |
| "Right now we have over 2,000 kids who have e-mailed, wanting to have the chip implanted," he said. "They think it's cool." |
| (Currently the chip is immutable once the device is injected via a syringe, using local anesthetic. In future applications, the chip may include a GPS receiver and other advanced features, company officials said.)229 |
| C. | About 2,500 People Have Made Contact to "Get Chipped": Miami Herald: March 10, 2002 |
| A March 10, 2002, Miami Herald article reported that about 2,500 people have made contact to "get chipped." |
| Nathan Isaacson of Tamarac is one of 2,500 people who want to get computer chips implanted in their bodies. |
| The 83-year-old is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. If he wanders off or gets hurt, family members worry that medical workers won't know who he is or that he's allergic to penicillin. Or that he has a recently implanted pacemaker... |
| About 2,500 people have contacted Applied Digital to "get chipped."230 |
| D. | Doctors Say ID Chip Useful Only If Standard Practice Nationally: Palm Beach Post Staff Writer: Friday, May 10, 2002 |
| Doctors interviewed in a May 10, 2002 article by Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Deborah Circelli indicate that an ID chip is useful only if it is standard practice nationally. |
| Not surprisingly, the ID chip has gotten mixed reviews in the medical community. Some area doctors say the VeriChip could be helpful, but only if it becomes a standard practice nationally.231 |
| E. | Eight Alzheimer's Patients Injected with Chips: World Magazine: June 15, 2002 |
| Mindy Belz's Special Report "State of the World" article, "Recipe for Progress: ID Chips," states: |
| Last month eight Alzheimer's patients were injected with silicon chips, making them as scannable as a bag of potato chips at the supermarket. |
| The devices are about the size of a grain of rice and were developed in Florida. They are inserted into the upper back and are invisible except when a hand-held scanner is waved over the area. A radio frequency activates the chip to transmit a signal, which contains an identification number. Information about Alzheimer's patients, who are prone to forgetfulness, is cross-referenced in a central computer registry. The registry can contain an entire medical history, including important data like drug allergies. Applied Digital Solutions Inc., maker of the VeriChip, will soon have a more complex device. It will be able to receive GPS satellite signals and transmit a person's location. Critics complain that the chip inserts are like putting a pet on a leash, but in places like Florida-where 4 million people have Alzheimer's-or Colombia-where one in three of the world's kidnappings take place-they could mean life or death.232 |
| F. | October 24, 2002 Launch of National "Get ChippedTM" Promotion Noted: Business Wire: November 12, 2002 |
| The October 24, 2002 launch of a national "Get ChippedTM" promotion was noted in a Business Wire release, entitled, "Applied Digital Solutions to Participate in Seminar on Human Implantable Microchips at the National Academies-Nov. 15, 2002, in Washington." |
| Following the FDA ruling, Applied Digital Solutions announced that it would immediately begin VeriChip marketing efforts in the United States. On October 24, 2002, the Company launched a national "Get Chipped(TM)" promotion making the first 100,000 registrants and all qualified ADSX shareholders eligible for a special introductory savings of $50 at the time of "chipping." Details about the "Get Chipped" promotion are posted on the Company's website: www.adsx.com.233 |
| G. | Human Microchip Implants: Intended Use: "Universal Means of Identification: January 9, 2003 Web Site Item" |
| 1. | Human Microchip Implants: "Universal Means of Identification": Applied Digital Solutions |
| Human microchip implants are being promoted "as a universal means of identification." |
| We are promoting VeriChip as a universal means of identification. We expect it to be used in a variety of applications including financial and transportation security, residential and commercial building access, military and government security.234 |
| 2. | Human Microchip Implants: Could Reach $70 Billion Per Year: EE |
| The estimate that "the worldwide market for such implantable chips could reach $70 billion per year," is in keeping with the concept that human microchip implants are being promoted as a universal means of identification. |
| Called the VeriChip, the device could open up a broad new segment for the $900 million-a-year RFID business, especially if society embraces the idea of using microchips for human identification. Applied Digital executives ultimately believe that the worldwide market for such implantable chips could reach $70 billion per year. |
| "The human market for this technology could be huge," said Keith Bolton, senior vice president of technology development at the company.235 |
| H. | "Ten U.S.-Based Authorized VeriChip Centers in Seven States": Business Wire; April 4, 2003 |
| Applied Digital Solutions shipped VeriChips to ten Authorized VeriChip Centers in Seven States. |
| Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSX) an advanced technology development company, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, VeriChip Corporation, has completed initial product shipmentsÉto ten Authorized VeriChip Centers based in the United States... |
| In the United States, shipments of initial VeriChip inventories have been completed to ten Authorized VeriChip Centers, enabling these Centers to begin local VeriChip marketing efforts. Authorized VeriChip Centers are now located in the following cities: Chandler, AZ; Boca Raton, FL; Naples, FL; Port St Lucie, FL; Sunrise (Broward County), FL; Bethesda, MD; New York City, NY; North Charleston, SC; San Antonio, TX; and McLean, VA. For more detailed information on these Centers, visit www.adsx.com.236 |
| I. | "Day Will Come When Most of Us Will Have Something Similar to the VeriChip under Our Skin": Digital Solutions President Scott Silverman The Boston Globe: May 20, 2003 |
| Boston Globe Correspondent Angela Swafford reported on the views of Scott Silverman, president of Florida-based Applied Digital Solutions regarding the future growth of implantable microchipsÑas well as on the number of persons who have been "chipped." |
| "I believe the day will come when most of us will have something similar to the VeriChip under our skin," said Scott Silverman, president of Florida-based Applied Digital Solutions. "People will regard that its benefitsÑin terms of financial, security, and health careÑfar outweigh the possibility of loss of privacy"... |
| Right now, I am part of a very small club, the 18th person in the worldÑand the first journalistÑto get "chipped." Most of the others are ADS employees along with one Florida family who have been jokingly dubbed "the Chipsons in a play on the old Jetsons cartoon.237 |
| J. | Twelve U.S.-Based Authorized VeriChip Centers in Eight States: VeriChip Corporation: Copyright 2002, Accessed: June 5, 2003 |
| Applied Digital Solutions' Web site listed twelve Authorized VeriChip Centers in eight states as of June 5, 2003. Following is a listing of the cities for the 12 centers, and their respective states. |
| Chandler, AZ; Boca Raton, FL; Naples, FL; Port St Lucie, FL; Sunrise, FL; Hammond, LA; Bethesda, MD; New York City, NY; North Charleston, SC; Mt. Pleasant, SC; San Antonio, TX; and McLean, VA. For more detailed information on these Centers, visit www.adsx.com.238 |