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Strategies for international travellers regarding new US Customs seizure policy

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TomColvin:
I think this thread is fizzling out.  But before it does, another observation about personal strategy.

I envision building a setup along these lines.  Some internet locations as my central hub for data and applications.  Also two desktop machines, one in each of my two residences -- both connected to the hub and both synchronizing with the hub.  The desktops, I'm beginning to think, will run on Linux, not Windows.

When I travel, I will carry only a device that I look at as disposable.  Maybe my iPod for USB-type operation -- or an Asus eee mini-laptop running on Linux.

I was intrigued to read this morning about the leaked news that Microsoft itself foresees the domise of Windows and is developing an internet-centric OS to replace it.  Interesting indeed.

Regarding civil liberities and the US Constitution:  a civilization gets what it works for.  Sadly, the US is so damaged culturally that the Constitution is mostly irrelevant.  That has been evident for a couple of decades at least -- students lost interest in the Constitution years ago.

Bottomline:  we in are a world where the individual just look after him-herself.  Which, frnakly, is probably the best tactic in any event.

Carol Haynes:
Bottomline:  we in are a world where the individual just look after him-herself.  Which, frnakly, is probably the best tactic in any event.
-TomColvin (August 04, 2008, 12:37 PM)
--- End quote ---

Great in theory but you need to live in a regime where this is possible to look after yourself without resorting to armed conflict or explosives. Unfortunately none of the 'democracies' seem to value this any more than religious dictatorships or totalitarian states.

What is particularly sad is that the 'democracies' fail to recognise that they are destroying precisely what they are supposed to be fighting for!

In the UK one of the effects of international policies on fuel prices is an increase last week of 30% in gas and electric prices from British Gas in a single day.

I dread to think how long it will be before there start to be riots on the streets protesting but with the world economy rapidly disappearing down the crapper it won't be long and then what is going to happen. Losing a laptop to customs will seem like nothing in the grand scheme when the next global conflict for oil and gas starts. The only realistic alternative is to allow countries to develop nuclear power and we all know how popular that is in certain quarters.

MrCrispy:
When I travel I use my laptop/ipod for entertainment, and they have a lot of music, ripped movies, tv shows etc. While the vast majority are ripped from my own collection, I will admit some are thru p2p and copied from friends. But lets disregard those for a moment - according to the RIAA/MPAA, even ripping your own dvd/cd for personal use is illegal. So I  would then be a copyright thief/terrorist.

This is not data that I can keep on a server since its many 10's of GB. Even if I could, I can't access it in many parts of the world. The whole point of a laptop is to have your data with you.

Encrypted partitions won't help, they only make you look more suspicious in the eyes of the agent. The fact of the matter is it all depends on your luck, who you deal with and how you come across. You even look at them the wrong way and they can sieze everything you have and even arrest and lock you up with no probable cause for an indefinite time. The law has been designed to let them do anything they want.

On a practical note should I advise friends who are coming to visit not to bring any electronic devices such as laptops/mp3 players with them?

cmpm:
Lot's of online apps here, including the comments.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_must_have_online_office_apps.php

mouser:
The question someone raised about how often confiscation actually occurs really is relevant (to me at least).  If this is one of those theoretical rules that they put in place for really unusual cases where they suspect your laptop is a bomb and it never really happens then that's one thing.. but if this is one of those rules that border guards use when they get in a bad mood that's something else entirely.

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