[IP] more on search experience on "border"
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 3, 2006 12:40:40 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [IP] more on search experience on "border"
One consequence of knowing that the thought police are watching is
the fear of appearing on political donation lists since there is the
perception, if not the reality, that science appointees are vetted
for their political affiliations. While requiring public disclosure
of the lists is supposed to assure “fair” funding it has the side-
effect of exposing the participants to other pressures. In a way it
defeats the purpose of keeping ballots secret.
Along these lines, it’s hard enough to do disruptive research if one
is committed to delivering a result rather than surprises – if one
presumes science is about discovering the one truth then why tolerate
surprises? It reminds me of the Greeks’ reaction to the heretic who
showed that the square root of two was irrational.
Preventing the import of bad ideas seems to be a “reasonable”
extension of such attitudes. No need to understand them if you can
isolate yourself from reality.
Focusing on “pornography” just adds a touch of absurdity to the whole
thing but remember that it’s not about this world – it’s about the
next one.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 08:45
To: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IP] more on search experience on “border”
Begin forwarded message:
From: Tom Fairlie <tfairlie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 3, 2006 8:24:14 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: lauren@xxxxxxxxxx, travis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on search experience on “border”
And to what end?
We know that the Bush administration has long tried to earn points
with religious fundamentalists. We also know that this same
administration operates incompetently the majority of the time (both
objective facts). Thus, creating a speed bump at our borders to keep
out evil porn would be a good example of a policy that fits both MOs—
it’s appealing to prudes and ineffective/costly at the same time.
We also know that the Bush administration has accelerated our descent
into fascism. This isn’t hyperbole; anyone who studies such things
would at least admit that this is a debatable assertion. The stopping
of good travelers at our borders for a little personal interrogation,
while not effective at stopping anything, is a marvelous form of
thought control (e.g., “Let’s remember to not bring anything with us
that might be considered offensive to our government.” begets “Let’s
not say anything offensive to our government.” begets “My government
knows best.”)
I think the real answer is somewhere in the middle. As we’ve all
discussed, the TSA has been largely ineffective and they aren’t free.
However, they have also now done a long list of things that, for
better or worse, have forced millions of Americans to think twice
before performing many different innocuous actions before traveling.
Given that this list is growing and not shrinking based upon public
outcry, I gather that my second option above is either part of the
plan or just a happy coincidence.
Tom Fairlie
----- Original Message -----
From: “David Farber” <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 11:25 AM
Subject: [IP] more on search experience on “border”
Begin forwarded message:
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: July 31, 2006 12:21:00 PM EDT
To: travis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, lauren@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] search experience on “border”
From: Travis Kalanick <travis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
...
While operating my laptop he said that we was tasked with preventing
illegal pornographic material from entering the United States
...
He returned my laptop after this warrantless search saying I was free
Dave,
And to what end—other than going through the motions—is such a search?
Given a quick check, the border agent would be unlikely to find a
cache of porn photos that was compressed and archived in a single
encrypted file named C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB911567 or some other
obscure name—not a single JPG porn file to be found in a file scan.
Perhaps what’s really going on in such border cases is some sort of
“amateur test”—since any pro who wanted to bring porn (or any other
data) into the U.S. on a laptop would never leave the data in an
easily discovered form. But then again, why bother using the
laptop? How about putting an innocuous looking file on that cute
keychain memory dongle? Or on an iPod? Porn could be easily rigged
to look like an mp3 file, that could even play properly. Or why not
use some spare cell phone memory area? Or how about that 2 Gig
memory stick in the camera, or a miniSD memory card inserted into an
electric razor or the binding of a book?
To quote the wonderful episode “OBIT” from the original ‘60s
television series “The Outer Limits”: “The machines are everywhere!”
Anyone with half a brain who wants to bring data into the U.S. can do
so without meaningful detection, short of a full body cavity strip
search and prolonged forensic analysis—and even then the true nature
of any data might well be undiscovered.
All of the rest is for show, and perhaps to cull the low hanging fruit.
· Lauren—
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@xxxxxxxxxx or lauren@xxxxxxxx
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
· People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
· International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren’s Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com
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