A biohacker by the name of Meow - Meow has been have some trouble late with hisOpal card , a tap - to - pay smartcard ticket usable on public transport in New South Wales ( NSW ) . No , he has n’t lost it – he ’s implanted its chip into his hand , which has set off a serial of inauspicious events leading to a rather singular conviction .
Sydney - based Mr Meow - Meow – real name , Meow - Ludo Disco Gamma Meow - Meow , rather spectacularly – recently took the nigh - field communication ( NFC ) chip from his Opal card and , incase it in charge card , he cautiously inserted it under his hide with the helper of a piercing expert .
The idea was simple-minded : you could never lose your travel tag if it ’s stuck in your body . Sadly , back in June of last yr , ABC Newsreported that the NSW conveyance authority were n’t well pleased .
Apart from worrying that others may also carry out similarly bespoken experiment , they say , in a statement , that “ Transport for NSW does not support the meddling or damaging of Opal Cards , which would be a breach of the terms of use . ”
Under their terminal figure of enjoyment , they can have such customer ’s carte cancel and even confiscated , the latter option of which is essentially impossible with Mr Meow - Meow .
Now , as reported over atGizmodo , the very same Australian biohacker has been convicted by the state bureau . They fine him the equivalent of $ 169 back in August for not traveling with a valid ticket , despite the fact that he still had sizable cash depart on the chip , which has triggered an unprecedented sound fount .
Meow - Meow actually pled guilty , because he is distinctly in dispute of the rules of own an Opal board ; the local court of justice magistrate noted that you have to abide by the law as it stand , not by what it might be in the futurity .
As Gizmodo noted , the fight is more than just one of transport rules and regularisation . It touches on larger themes of regime intervention , and the perceived right to adapt our bodies to emerging technology or technological trends without preventative .
ABC Newsexplainsthat a noncompliant Meow - Meow is going further with the engineering in the future . He hop to instal another chip that hold all his personal entropy , including bank details .
Biohacking , although unexampled , is becoming increasinglywidespread . Far from just implanting radio set , pat - to - pay technologies in their skin , the nascent theater has run into various musical accompaniment both from mortal and research research laboratory and institutes . From implantableblood testingdevices andbiosensing tattoosfor diabetic to cool - but - functionless bioluminescence emulators , the futurity is bright for the untested manufacture .
That also means that Meow - Meow ’s legal casing may be bizarre now , but we ’ll be unforced to bet that plenty more both like and unlike it are coming over the horizon .
