The banks were frantic when they heard of the new law, they were well aware that if the security codes were broken, as they surely would be, even novice level hackers would have the “keys” to the kingdom. The government couldn’t be held at fault, it had sovereign immunity for its acts. The blame would be laid squarely at the banker’s feet. They would have to pick up the tab for Internet theft no matter whose fault it was, after all the public had entrusted their monies to their banks, and they had every right both legally and morally to expect that their investment be protected. The banks that backed up major credit cards were the most frightened. Federal law required that false purchases on credit cards be covered by the bank rather than the consumer. Their vaults were about to be opened by Federal fiat, and leave them holding the empty bags of loot.

Within days the members of the House Commerce Committee were inundated by hordes of special interest lobbyists for the banking industry. It was made known that the movers and shakers in banking did not share the FBI’s concerns with being able to snoop in people’s private affairs. The representatives were told that if their support of the amendment to the law continued, the banks would have to seek representation elsewhere. The banks could not afford to donate money to representatives who caused horrendous losses to the industry. When the representatives came up for re-election, even their ability to finance loans for their campaigns would be in question. The amendment died on the vine and life went on normally on the Internet.

Shareware programs abounded to help people wipe all records of what they had done on the Internet. With the advent of satellite connections to the Internet, advertising had gone wild. At first Congress had tried foolish measures like outlawing mass mailings and porno, until it finally sunk into their dimwitted minds that the Internet was international and no law they passed could affect a foreign server. They had tried to enforce a Lege Americana and seen it fail miserably. American Federal police became pariahs in the international community when they attempted and failed to kidnap foreign violators and bring them before Federal Courts. Members of the FBI, DEA and CIA became persona non grata in almost every free country of the world. Several countries went so far as to make it illegal for members of American police and intelligence community to enter their countries without requesting permission from their government first. The State department went wild and told the President that America was in danger of becoming isolated from the rest of the world. Congress considered shutting the Internet down in the United States, but the combined business interests of the First World had made them see that if the politicians continued their unwarranted interference, they would find themselves being burned on a virtual pyre while tied to the stake of world opinion. Business had too much to lose to let thumb-fingered idiot politicians to make decisions that affected their bottom line. In a word, Congress was stuck. The Internet censorship laws were quietly rescinded and the American public was allowed to “surf” the Internet as it pleased.

The millions of dollars companies had spent on satellite launches had kept the telephone companies at bay. Download speeds of sixteen megabits per second were common after Motorola put their Celestri satellite in orbit and performance wasn’t degraded by the satellite’s upload speed two to ten megabits either. Overnight, the Internet became the property of big business as multinational companies saw the wisdom in controlling their own piece of Internet traffic. More satellites were launched by a host of competitors, dropping the subscription fees to affordable levels. The initial cost of the seven hundred-fifty dollar satellite dish diminished in impact as inflation raised wages and the downward pressure of mass sales brought its cost within the means of even the lower middle class. The deal was sweetened when the satellites began transmitting high definition television as well. People began using public servers for their email so they could access their mail from any location. Over eighty-five percent of America’s households were subscribers to satellite Internet and television services. Only the very poor were excluded from the new technology.

After Rose had reviewed her mail, she switched over to another channel and lay back against the cushion to watch TV with Howard nestled comfortably in her lap. The channel she had selected was playing an old movie. Howard dimly remembered seeing it when he was in his mid-twenties. It was an oddly spiritual love story called “Ghost”. Rose pulled him in closer as the movie progressed, holding his bottom affectionately as she When the actors began disrobing during a scene that was a prelude to sex, Rose put her other hand between his legs and began to unconsciously rub his pubic region. Howard was appalled by her actions but could not find it within him to try to stop her. It was titillating in a way that had been forgotten in his earliest childhood. Her ministrations didn’t exactly make him horny, but the didn’t exactly not make him horny either. There was an absurd inchoate sense about the sensations he was feeling that stopped him from interfering with the motion of her hand. As she stroked, he realized that his tiny penis had become erect under the thick padding of the disposable diaper. Howard thought mournfully that his involuntary reaction was more of a primitive response to the physical pleasure he was feeling rather than an expression of adult sexual passion. Instead of responding actively to her unconscious foreplay, he lay back in surrender and rested his head against the softness of her ample breasts. By the time the scene was over and she stopped stroking him, Howard was sleeping serenely in her lap.

When the movie was over, Rose decided it was time for little Bri-Bri’s bottle. She gently took him in her arms and carried him over to his playpen to keep him out of mischief while she was in the kitchen. Howard mewled uncomfortably in his sleep when she laid him on the plastic mat of the playpen, but didn’t wake. Rose took a pre-prepared bottle of formula out of the refrigerator and put it in a pot of water and turned on the burner beneath the pot to warm. She reviewed Bri-Bri’s schedule and saw that it was late enough to let her feed him his dinner. The note indicated that he was to eat half a jar of mixed vegetables with his formula that night. Rose rummaged through the pantry for a few minutes until she found the jar of baby food that Bri-Bri’s aunt had directed should be fed to him and set it on the kitchen table while she found his feeding spoon and bib. Then she went back to the range and checked on the bottle. When she removed the bottle from the pot to shake a few drops on the inside of her wrist to check the temperature of the formula, she felt that the plastic of the bottle had gotten too warm for little hands to hold comfortably. Rose turned down the burner and added some cold water from the faucet to cool the water in the pot before she put the bottle back into the water. Once all the preparations had been made, she went to wake Bri-Bri and bring him to the kitchen for his dinner.