The Chinese may have a PRC ID number already in store for President 2.0.
This is a fairly scary bit of “the news” as of late: there’s this bit of “fake ID software” on the Chinese Interwebs (which we’re going to stay legal and not post a link to) which can generate PRC ID numbers for just about any person on the planet. If you’ve had a bad night out, you can even attempt ones for Kim Jong-Il, Superman or even E.T.!
This bit of “official fakeware” (as we’re compelled to call it) found its raison d’être to get youngsters into Internet cafés with valid ID (as those kids back then could not usually get in unless they were 18; young counter-revolutionaries, we question?), but has now emerged as “dark side jokeware”. And while you might get away with a fake ID for, say, E.T., PRC criminal code will likely see you in jail or at least a fair bit poorer for creating fake IDs — a criminal offence in China, and likely everywhere else as well.
Legal experts speaking to the Beijing Evening News, however, point out that you’re only handcuffed if you do the deed — as in use a fake ID. Until then, a mere screen showing President 2.0′s PRC ID number, real or fake, is unlikely to get the Supreme People’s Court upset or anything. We caution, though, that this is borderline behavior — as in you’re clearly treading on very thin ice here. Your tech blogger will pay no-one a prison visit if he or she got in by — well, creating fake IDs.
(He’s like this as he’s a law-abiding Swiss citizen.)
