L‑1 Identity Solutions is a leading biometric technology company, and with its acquisition of Digimarc ID Systems it has become the nation’s number one manufacturer of state identity cards and drivers’ licenses. Such a company would benefit massively from implementation of the REAL ID Act, the nation’s moribund national ID law.

But REAL ID is in trouble. No state was in compliance by the May 2008 deadline, and the Department of Homeland Security had to give deadline extensions even to states that flatly refused to participate in the national ID scheme.

So what does the primary beneficiary of the failing REAL ID Act do? Change the name. On a recent earnings call, L‑1’s Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Robert V. LaPenta, was a little too transparent in expressing his optimism about the government ID card buisiness:

We’re well-positioned in all of these opportunities and we’re seeing increased sell prices for those states that are incorporating and I won’t call it real ID, I’ll call it enhanced or higher security drivers license.

“I won’t call it real ID, I’ll call it enhanced or higher security drivers license.”

Enhanced driver’s licenses are a project at the Department of Homeland Security — with no congressional mandate — to move state driver’s licenses toward serving as national ID cards.

So it is with the “PASS Act,” a bill that would revive REAL ID under a different name.

Senator Daniel Akaka (D‑HI), formerly an opponent of having a national ID, has been working with the National Governors Association to round down the sharpest corners of REAL ID and give the national ID law a new name.

A news report says the new bill “explicitly prevents the creation of a national identification card.” It might also prevent things that walk like ducks, quack like ducks, and swim like ducks from being called “ducks.”

The only way to resolve the problems with REAL ID is to repeal REAL ID. Reviving the national ID program under another name is not a solution.