On the one hand, I can see where this futures market for terrorism was coming from. If futures markets are that accurate, it's a way to get information without having to perform dangerous and costly acts of espionage. It's also not unusual to have people wager or otherwise "invest" in outcomes of various events.

On the other hand, I'm not that comfortable with the idea that some Gordon Gekko type would get to the point where bankrolling, say, the overthrow of the Nepalese monarchy is a sound busines decision. I know the business of America is business, but this may be a little too much.

Also of interest is that the idea was created by DARPA's Information Awareness Office, the same folks who brought you Total/Terrorism Information Awareness. That program would have data-mined pretty much all of cyberspace in the hunt for terrorists, which as you can imagine had some people fairly concerned about privacy.

Even more interesting, to me at least, is that the office is headed by John Poindexter, a retired admiral and former National Security Advisor who some of you may remember was convicted of a number of things during the Iran-Contra scandal. Turns out those convictions were overturned. This site has its own pointed take on Poindexter's life and career.

(And for those of you who may accuse me of slandering Silent Cal with the "business of America is business" reference, here's a clarification/defense of what he said.)