April 1, 2004 Associated Press, Washington - The United States Federal Communications Commission, as part of a joint project funded by the Department of Defense, has approved measures to begin requiring US consumers to obtain licenses for all new personal computers purchased after January, 2005.

"It's basically the same process that CB radio owners had to go through in the 1970's, only we require a slight amount of additional information.", said Lance O. Onie, director of the FCC's PC Freedom Initiative.

Purchasers of new PCs will have to fill out a simple "one step" form, with only the following information: The purchaser's Social Security number, current address, e-mail address(es), date of birth, driver's license number and the computer's CPU's unique serial number.

"By requiring the driver's license number, we are able to simplify things by not requiring consumers to be inconvenienced by having their photos taken for inclusion in our database; we can just get that data from the states in which they're licensed.", Onie was quick to point out as a benefit of this simplified procedure.

The user will be able to access the CPU's serial number through the use of a computer program distributed on a CD ROM with each new PC sold. The program must remain installed on the computer whenever the computer is used with the Internet.

Owners of older computers will be exempt from this new law until December 25, 2006, "giving them plenty of time to upgrade their systems as necessary in order to comply with the new law", says Onie, who commented that this program will also be "very helpful to the economy."

After that time, the FCC will work with the CIA, state and local law enforcement officials to conduct random high-tech sweeps throughout the country to check for the illegal possession and use of unregistered computing equipment.

Fines and penalties were not specified, but sources say that illegal possession will be considered to be a very serious offense, necessary for the freedom, safety and well-being of all Americans.