What happens when technological change outruns society's capacity to keep tabs on it? Well, in the case of spy-quality satellite imagery, we're about to find out. Until just a couple of years ago, satellite images with a 1-meter resolution (you can distinguish objects 1 meter across in them)were the state of the art. They were largely in the hands of the intelligence agencies of the major powers, chiefly the United States and the former Soviet Union. But times have changed -with a vengeance. The breakup of the Soviet state and the end of the Cold War are about to loose a flood of these high-quality satellite images on the market, as Ivan Amato tells TR readers in this issue's cover story: "God's Eyes for Sale."

The first of these images hit the World Wide Web last summer, where they were offered for as little as $10 a pop. That was just a first taste. In the coming year, as Amato's fine reporting shows, half a dozen or more companies will launch their own satellites to provide consumers with the views once reserved for the spooks. These pictures will have plenty of legitimate uses. Real-estate agents can use them to show potential buyers new neighborhoods. Geologists working for oil companies will exploit them to identify "sweet spots "that harbor natural gas. Travelers can get a street-level view of Rome before arriving.