New York state legislators introduce bills to criminalize microcasting, regulate RFID signals

New York state assembly legislators "A. LATIMER, GALEF, AUBERTINE" introduced a bill (A1214) sponsored by "M. of A. BOYLAND, CLARK, DelMONTE, D. GORDON, GRANNIS, McENENY, MILLMAN, PHEFFER," according to the New York State Assembly web site, that would make a person convicted of unauthorized radio transmission guilty of a class D felony, "punishable by imprisonment and a fine in the amount of not less than $10,000.00." A version passed the New York State Senate in 2006 (S.7074/A.9647-A); another has been introduced by Volker this year.

Assemblyperson Pheffer also wants to enact the "radio frequency identification right to know act" (A222) which would, "require retail mercantile establishments to disclose the use of RFID devices." Pheffer also has introduced two other RFID bills, A225B and A261. One establishes a task force on the privacy implications of radio frequency identification technology and the other requires the labeling of retail products or packages containing a radio frequency identification tag and provides for enforcement by the attorney general.