True enough, and I would expect Corporate SINs to follow that logic, trying to squeeze as much data and use out of the SINs as possible. However, governments seem to be tied to doing things in the most wasteful ways possible, so I wouldn't put it past the UCAS to do something silly like that. Heck, I wouldn't put it past the UCAS to not only use that scheme but also have no rhyme or reason to the numbers aside from "this city gets this block of the SINs, this city gets that, the numbers are first-come first serve".

Though, I'd love to see a Rating 1 Fake SIN that was something silly like "FRAG-UCAS-CHMR"

Would the CC have any real jurisdiction over UCAS SINs, though? I mean, the UCAS could say "sure, cool, we might as well" but they might also say "Frag you, chummers, we're the UCAS and we do it the UCAS way!"

They could, just like the US Army could say tomorrow that they're switching to bullets that have pentagonal cross sections, and will no longer buy round bullets. Doesn't mean any manufacturer on the planet actually makes those, and seeing as the rest of the world will still be using round bullets, those manufacturers might not be inclined to switch.

In the case of "current SINs aren't the best way of doing thing"...
...By that logic, phone numbers should already be much longer then they currently are and we should already be using the IPv6 protocol for the internet [the current IPv4 protocol, that provides IP addresses to everything on the internet, is running out of addresses], for future-proofing.


In fact, a good example of how not to generate phone numbers is the mistake BT [the phone monopoly in the UK] made when allocating phone numbers a few years ago...
...They realised they were going to run out of numbers [businesses were getting fax machines and computers installed, so they went from needing a few numbers each to needing lots of numbers each], so changed the phone number prefix - adding numbers to the front, and grouping phone numbers.

Then they did it again, just a few year later - because they were going to run out of numbers again in the future !!


Any global numbering system has to have some standardisation, else it just won't work globally...
...See the current problems with ID cards, which need to be standard amongst all the countries that will use them.

However, they're unlikely to be exactly the same for everyone...
...Each will standardise the basics, then have extra stuff only relevant to them - you see this sort of thing anytime 2 companies have to deal with each other.

As to why there'd be such standardisation...
...If a company wants to deal with other companies, there'll be some level of compromise - because it's just not profitable to constantly re-invent things just to be using your own.

For example...
...Why is English the language most countries use for trade, and not Esperanto [which was designed to be a common language] or Spanish or Chinese [which has the world's largest number of native speakers, simply because it has the largest number or people] ??

Population-wise, it's not the most commonly spoken language...
...And often wonderfully obtuse and confusing...
...So why ??

Because it is in people's interest, and a compromise, to share a language...
...Local people who speak English do more trade, have the advantage when it came to bargaining [compared to non-English speakers] and can take that knowledge to apply it elsewhere...
...And a trader could learn the local language [getting much better deals, etc], but if the trader travels to 20 places, he'd have to learn 20 different languages.

There's a minor fallacy in that argument in that it leaves out other considerations. Phone numbers (in the US, at least) were deliberately limited to seven digits to limit the number of digits a human being needed to memorize. IP4 addresses were limited to thirty-two bits because the data transmission and memory were limited when the system was created in like 1981.

Technology in Shadowrun offers near-instantaneous speeds and nigh-infinite storage, so those factors are not an issue.

I don't know if this has been brought up already, but it should be pointed out:

Remember that this is a dystopian future. There are a number of big players (governments, corps, etc) in the world but none of them have the clear upper hand.

That should color the discussion of SINs. If everything were uniform and seamless across national and corporate borders, then the shadows shrink to a large degree.

However; if Renraku only stores biometric data A, B, and C with each SIN and doesn't share (at least on a deep level) their lists with UCAS (who stores data A, C, D, and E) who doesn't share their list with Aztechnology (who only allow outside searches of data point C) you can see how easy it would be to fool the system on a superficial level.

Another point: perhaps like credit cards the originator of the SIN (corp, govt, criminal etc) can be figured out in a trivial way, but that doesn't help you all that much.

Examples: if you are trying to pass through a NAN checkpoint with a Renraku SIN, it is harder for them to dig too deeply into the situation. If you have a Shiawase SIN they may be able to cross-check alot more info, based on treaties, etc. Maybe not, though. At a surface level, these SIN-checks when you haven't overtly done anything wrong are fairly harmless... just because the system is so de-centralized and inefficient.

If, however, you are arrested during a run while doing some very naughty things, they will pick your SIN apart to the Nth degree... it would probably be time consuming, expensive and annoying for the authorities to get warrants to cross-check against a corps database, etc; but eventually they'd get to the bottom of it.* Not only that, but they'd no doubt put any such suspect through a full workup (DNA, fingerprints, retinal scans, skeletal structure, height, weight, etc etc) and assign you a new, fully detailed, biometrically correct SIN so that you will never be "lost" (i.e. SINless) again.

Or, if you were caught by a corp, they could simply dump your body in the river and save alot of money.



*An interesting story line is when someone picks up a (mostly) deniable asset and starts digging into their SIN and the issuing parent company refuses the request for more information. Perhaps a method to legally protect (and eventually recover) valuable corporate assets, like strike team members, etc. I could see the corps "exchanging hostages" from time to time, or paying ransoms, negotiating releases, etc.

That number is so mind boggling large anyway that it cease to matter in the least how it was engineered. So, a few hundred million years from now, once we are spread across a few thousand galaxies and maybe as many dimensions they will have to begin recycling old numbers or come up with a different system. Nothing lasts forever. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)


Isshia