So what exactly is the nature of the system that, in cyberpunk worlds,
holds our identities?

1	Is it a totally central system, with even local branches of the
government in a client-server relationship with the "core"?
2	Is it a prime-and-collaborator network, like the SSN system in America
today?
3	Is it a simple central system, with most of the interesting data
handled by a collaborative network? (Like credit ratings today.)

	The first option creates a very strong gap in ID control power. Those
who can't crack governmental ice can't do anything, but those who can,
can. It also creates a strong distinction for the hacker character, who
is most likely to be able to get in, even if the game never focuses on
the matrix.
	It also implies that there *is* some kind of central authority. If the
government has the core, the corps will be howling for it; OTOH, that
may be the last vestige of governmental power.

	The second is the most interesting, IMO: you can hack an ID with a
quality proportional to your skill, but at any reasonable level it will
eventually turn around and bite you. Floater IDs, set up and used for a
while before they see action, are the only way to go for a bit of
warning.

	The third is probably close to the assumption made in most cyberpunk.
There's three levels of ID hacking, local, central, and total. Local
hacks a few collaborators, and stays in place long enough for a run.
Central hacks the main database, and has the bones of a consistent ID
but often runs into holes with collaborators. And total hacks the
central database plus some collaborators, and is maintained by its new
inertia under all but the most intense scrutiny.

	There's also the issue of what to do with the Zeroed, ranging from Max
Headroom to Neuromancer to Shadowrun(where there are two Otherworlds,
one of them made up of the SINless)...

	What's your take?

	- DARE, GURPSist extraordinaire and plenipotentiary

* "Well, yes, I am a servant of Satan... but my duties are largely
ceremonial."
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