The Registry is the world's premiere old-style network-of-networks which links together the databases of all the world's governments. It is a cooperative organic system tasked with the maintenance of citizen records to smooth Protocol agreements. The Registry is what allows a person to travel from Washington to Canton without going through any customs or requiring any visas. Nothing, however, can except a person from Inoc and Decon procedures.

The Registry keeps track of an amazing amount of citizen data, from paycheck taxes, to driving habits, to genotypes. All such data is, of course, protected by the 17th Amendment (or relevant Information Privacy legislation), but safeguards are lax. The Global Registry has its roots in the national identification systems begun by the French and British at the turn of the century when welfare-cheats and illegal immigrants where seen as a greater threat to society than the fact that governments could abuse this collected information. The Social Security system, together with the National Driver Database, were the kernels of the American Registry.

+++It's very likely that any national ID proposals that make it through will be labeled voluntary. That is, if you never plan to get a job, vote, travel, cash a check, open a bank account, go to the hospital, enroll in a public school, receive Medicare or other federal benefits, purchase insurance, or buy a gun, there'll be no real need to comply. Got it? +++[Disinformation, 1998]+++

It is a favourite pastime of crackers and nihilists to hunt down juicy-looking 'databeasties' in the Registry. Such attacks would never destroy the Registry, but they do occasionally lead to unfortunate individuals being erased from the network. Such 'blanks' have difficulty interacting with society and often become disaffected with modern life.

+++No Shit Sherlock. If you couldn't buy a burger at the local joint because you're not a registered Consumer Union member, you'd be dissed like Satan himself! Mind you, a lot of blanks seem to have been destined to slip between the cracks of society anyhow; you know: missing school, failing to fill out gov't surveys, not returning those software registration cards...+++[Krypter]+++

+++Actually, the Registry seems to 'boot out' many more people than allowed for by statistical error and 'terrorist attacks'. Someone (I think it was Dr. Atomic) did a study of the incidence of blank creation, and although the results were inconclusive, there was a strong suspicion that webwork forces (government Great Minds, foreign powers, or somethin') were muddying the waters and instigating problems with specific record streams+++[Amtal Tester]+++

BENEFITS
Although Registry employees vary according to local government, the upper echelons share a common practise and tend to pool information and resources globally. Registrars gain access to a large Infosphere as if they had the metanet Registry at Rank 3. Other hacking skills/metanets must be purchased separately.