The most hated law in History.(Kevin Hughes) “No way. That’s bullshit. We can’t be held responsible as individuals…we are a Corporation!”

The Lawyer merely stared back at the CEO. He had learned long ago how emotional people get when the Law doesn’t coincide with what they want to do with it. He had warned the CEO, and the Board itself, when the new Law was being drafted. He had written an extensive brief about it. He had explained that the Law was written with the help of an AI and a Super Computer.

It was an ironclad and resistant to any Legal Attempts to find a loophole. Corporations had claimed the same rights as Individuals. The new Law did he same. The damn thing was the best Law ever written. If the CEO thought he was exempt, he was badly mistaken…and naive. He listened to the steady stream of vitriol coming from the normally staid and smiling CEO without comment. Finally the CEO wound down:

“We are going to lose a shitload of money. Me too.”

The Lawyer merely smiled.

*****

“It passed?”

The Senior Senator from Utah had dedicated months to Lobbying for the defeat of the Bill. He didn’t want it to become Law. Not only because it would reduce his funding …and power…but because at a Personal Level he was going to have to make some fundamental changes. The Law was so simple it was bullet proof. Basically it just made sure you if you did something, your name was on it. That’s all. No more Proxy Companies, or Corporations. No more Shell or Offshore Setups. At a personal Level…no more Avatars, Nicknames, or multiple Social Media Accounts. Your name and Social Security Number had to be the sole source of any of your actions, commitments, or businesses.

Some talking heads were already calling the Bill: “You can’t run AND you can’t hide.” Others were calling the Bill: “You did it you own it.” Others were calling it:
“Transparency equals responsibility.” The Bill simple made it Law: You had one name, one number, one address. Anything you did, or said, you owned it. From your bank account to your beliefs.

Who knew how many old Laws would Fall under the heavy weight of such a simple Law. The Law itself was barely two paragraphs long. The Title said it all:

“The Identity Bill.”

The Senator looked at his Senior Advisor. She nodded when he asked if the Bill passed.

“Okay, so what do we do now?”

“I’m moving to Costa Rica. I would suggest you do the same.”

Bewildered, he looked at her with amazement.

“You are moving to Costa Rica …why…when?”

“I am leaving Friday. The President is signing the Bill on Monday. If I was you, I would leave too.”

The Senator leaned back in his chair. A chair his ex wife bought him sixteen years ago when he first got elected. His new wife (thirty to years his junior) hated that chair. He looked up at his Senior Advisor with a wicked shine to his eyes.

“ Mabel, I am one of the most powerful men in this Country. I have served under three Presidents and survived them all. I am not going to cut and run because of a new Law so simple it can be explained in a single sentence.”

She looked at her Boss for the last twelve years in a different light. Could he really be that dim…or arrogant. She tried one more time:

“David, that little law is RETROACTIVE for three years. That is in the Bill strictly to “out” anyone who abused their power, or tried to hide their involvement in anything. All those little phony FACEBOOK postings and Twitter Feeds you supported to ridicule your opponents, or rile up your constituents will be traced to you. So will the “breaks” and “incentives” you gave to certain Businesses be traced back to you.

It might take a year for the full force of the Law to become apparent, but believe me, you will be held accountable. Personally. Professionally. Legally.

I am leaving Friday. I suggest you find a country with a Non Extradition Treaty and move there now.”

“I am not leaving, Mabel. I am not scared of a little Law with no teeth.”

She shook her head.

“No teeth? No teeth. Have you read it? It will tear you to shreds with its teeth, and grind what’s left to a pulp. I will cut my losses and leave. What you do…is up to you.”

“I’m staying put.”

She took her purse back off of the Senator’s Desk. Took one last look around the room that exuded power in its very decor. She shook her head once more as she left the room.

“I hope you like gray David. Because that is the color you will be seeing for the rest of your life.”

“Gray?”

Just before she closed the door she leaned in enough to answer him.

“Look it up, you are the one that passed the Legislation requiring Prisons to be painted in dull gray: “ …to save on upkeep and maintenance. And they are Prisoners why make their lives any easier. Let them be bored to death by muted gray for the length of their interment.”

Exactly fifteen months later, while sitting on her Veranda in Costa Rica, she got a postcard from David. She shed a single tear. She put the card down on the table. Enrique (her sometimes Lover but all the time friend) picked it up. Even though English wasn’t his First (or even second) language, he was fluent enough to catch the meaning. After all, it was a single sentence. He read it out loud:

“Mabel, you were right. I hate gray.”

*****

The door to his basement room was locked. He heard his Mother’s voice…she was arguing with somebody. It was a male’s voice, but not his Dad’s. He heard his Mother say:

“You are not breaking down that door. You knock first!”

Brendan got up from his chair. He had moved into his Mom and Dad’s basement after dropping out of college. That was five years ago. He was a bit better than the average hacker…so he phished enough to get the money he needed as a gearhead. You got to have the best gear to stay up with the technology. He wasn’t stupid like so many of his online friends. He took just enough from his Scams to fill his needs.

He had one girlfriend in real life. When she broke up with him, he hacked her FACEBOOK Account and put up naked pictures of her. He also hacked her twitter account and put up all the Family secrets she had told him in loving, trusting, confidence. Her life became a walking nightmare. She lost twenty pounds, was afraid to leave her house, and cried almost every day. It made him smile.

He had heard about the New “Identity” Law. So what? Good luck trying to find him through his series of VPN’s, Avatars, Fire Walls, and encrypted scripts. If he wanted to know what was going on…he would just hack into the Secure Computers at the Police Station. He laughed when he thought about it. Heck, why not just hack the FBI instead. Maybe he would. That was how he thought five months ago when the Law was passed. Then…he forgot about it. Until…

He heard his Mother scream.

He ran to the door, just as it exploded inwards. The two burly Agents, one the biggest female Officer he had ever seen, the other Officer even bigger, were holding some kind of portable battering ram. He had been knocked on his backside by the shattered door. He looked up as a man in a suit looked down at him. That man was holding out a very official looking badge…and he wasn’t smiling.

“Daryl Marquis Jackson…you are under Arrest under the “Identity Law.” You can, and will, be charged with Identity Theft. Under the Law you cannot use any email, link or posting without your real name and IP address. You have the right to remain silent.”

As they put the plastic ties around his wrists, he took a long look at his Computer set up. He saw his Mother Crying in the Arms of the Big Female Agent. He stumbled up the stairs wondering how in the hell they found him.

Two months later, he got a card from his ex- girlfriend. It was a picture of him being sentenced to Five years in Prison, and the forfeiture of all possessions. His Mother had refused to pay a single cent for his Defense.

“You did all this stuff in my house, under my roof! You thought you would never be held accountable. Those pictures and stories you posted about poor little Becky…you aren’t my son, you are a pig!”

On that card from Becky, the flip side, was a single word: Karma.

*****

Scenes like the Senator and the angry young man in his Mother’s Basement were enacted daily. The Conviction rate was one hundred percent. Ministers who railed against the sins of sex, but spent hours watching porn were revealed. Haters of all stripes from Neo Nazis, to far Left Animal Rights activists were exposed. You couldn’t hide anymore. Your name was the only one you could use. Post a threat…it had your name on it. Call someone a Racist Term, your name was on it. Make a shady Real Estate Deal, try to run a Con Game, claim you never said (or did) something you did say or do, those were all things of the past.

No more: “I do not recall” Or : “ I can’t remember.” Nope. The new Identity Law allowed all of your actions, words, and posts, to be used in Court. Mabel was right, the new Law had teeth worse than a Tyrannosaurus rex, and could grind you slowly like a cow chewing it’s cud. The Law, such a simple Law…did just two things:

“Tell everyone who you really are. Tell the Truth.”

It was the most hated law in History.

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