The slightly less Orwellian version than imagined here seems pretty likely to me. If there ever is an online national ID system, I'll bet 100 to 1 that you'll b

The slightly less Orwellian version than imagined here seems pretty likely to me. If there ever is an online national ID system, I'll bet 100 to 1 that you'll be able to port your facebook identity directly across to it. That said, there's an interesting Silicon Valley goes to Washington -- courtesy of its Harvard roots -- story here -- it may be that Zuck is just that much more forward thinking than the rest of the nerds, and wants in on the Washington game in a proactive way, rather than as a mission of last resort when dragged there by some other group, a-la the MPAA. That would, in my mind, bookend the 'geeks' era of technology companies -- 30 years or so from long-haired off the grid types hacking Apple II software in shacks outside of Big Sur to 20-something billionaires hiring up Washington talent. If I understand my major industrial history correctly, that's about right, maybe a bit slower than the oil industry. Look for Biotech to get smart on this in the next 10 or 15 years?