Today, members of Congress sent a letter to the Treasury Department warning of potentially dire results if Safran, a French company, gets ahold of Digimarc's ID card business:
"As a major link in the nation's critical infrastructure for identity management and military support, it is our understanding Digimarc plays an important role in our national security," the Congressfolks wrote. "Digimarc provides services that enable the production of more than 60 million personal identification documents, including two-thirds of all U.S. driver's licenses. We are concerned foreign acquisition of Digimarc will leave the ownership and control of this critical U.S. infrastructure company in the hands of a foreign sovereign investor."
The 11 signatories want any Safran deal to be scrutinized by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Francophobia is alive and well. Or maybe something else is going on.
Contracts for printing gov't IDs are highly lucrative. Companies spend a lot of money to keep the lawmakers on their side.