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Title: WSJ: L-3 Security Executive Sees Wide Market For Full-Body Scanners
Source:
Wall Street Journal
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091231-704430.html
Published: Jan 5, 2010
Author: By Ann Keeton
Post Date: 2010-01-05 15:03:02 by TwentyTwelve
Keywords: L-3 Security, Full-Body Scanners
Views: 81
Comments: 7
Wall Street Journal Article * DECEMBER 31, 2009, 11:20 A.M. ET L-3 Security Executive Sees Wide Market For Full-Body Scanners By Ann Keeton Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--The market for full-body scanners, now being considered for wider use in airport security, includes many more potential end users, according to manufacturer L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL). In an interview, Tom Ripp, president of Security and Detection Systems at L-3, said 200 of the company's SafeView body scanners have been deployed worldwide. The potential market includes thousands of airport locations as well as courthouses, prisons, border crossings and rail facilities. L-3 and OSI Systems Inc. (OSIS) are the only two companies certified to make full-body scanners for the U.S. government. Following the Christmas Day bomb scare on a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam, lawmakers around the world are considering wider use of airport scanners that can detect objects or materials concealed under a person's clothing. This week, airports in Holland and Nigeria--through which the suspected terrorist passed undetected on his way to the U.S.--have opted to scan more passengers using the L-3 equipment. L-3 and OSI's stocks rose earlier in the week and hit 52-week highs Wednesday. Ripp said the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has purchased about 40 of the L-3 scanners to test at airports around the country. But some groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union and lawmakers, have raised privacy concerns about body images displayed on the scanners. L-3's Ripp provided Dow Jones with a demonstration video showing the image that scanner operators can see. The 3-D holograph is designed to flag unexpected objects concealed on the body but doesn't let viewers look at a body image clearly enough to identify a specific man or woman, he said. In addition, "the image is erased once the next person enters the scanner," he said. The L-3 system uses radio waves, known as millimeter waves. That's different from OSI's "backscatter" technology, which employs very low level X-rays. OSI didn't respond to a request for information for this article, but the company has said that its body imaging also protects privacy. Some airline groups have expressed concern body scanning will add more time to an already-burdensome passenger screening experience. Ripp said L-3's system takes less than 10 seconds per person. But he said it's up to end users to set up equipment as needed; the specific configuration dictates how many employees are needed for scanning. The SafeView system can be combined with other equipment, such as metal detectors, to speed security checking, Ripp said. L-3, which makes a variety of security equipment, is developing other hardware and software capabilities that can be added to SafeView, Ripp said. L-3 makes security equipment for both military and civilian use. "What the TSA is up against now is similar to the IEDs (improvised explosive devices) soldiers face. Technology will continue to evolve as we learn of new threats," Ripp said. An L-3 full-body scanning machine costs $150,000, Ripp said. SafeView is just one of many security devices made by L-3. The company had overall 2008 revenue of $14.9 billion; it doesn't break out annual revenue for the Security and Detection Systems unit. -By Ann Keeton, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4120 ann.keeton@dowjones.com
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#1. To: All (#0)
Don't think for a nano second that this son of a rotten whore sleezy bitch isn't already on the master list for 'life disruption services'...
Ah, yes, the age-old question: How many TSA agents does it take to have a satisfying circle jerk? My guess would be three, but at least six when a little boy is going through.
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a linear one.
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a linear one.
#2. To: All (#0)
#3. To: TwentyTwelve (#1)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams 
#4. To: TwentyTwelve (#0)
But he said it's up to end users to set up equipment as needed; the specific configuration dictates how many employees are needed for scanning.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#5. To: TwentyTwelve (#0)
#6. To: Eric Stratton, ALL (#5)
Follow the money and the trail of corruption
#7. To: TwentyTwelve (#6)
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