The updated rules also make agents better inform you about what’s going on. It’s worth noting the searches are not standard practice: the DHS says that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has dealt with over 220 million travellers over the last 10 months, but only 1000 laptops were searched in that time.

Given those numbers, I guess I’m OK with it. As long as it’s only the terrorism and kiddy porn stuff they’re after. Personally, I gotta have my Divx movie rips on long haul flights.

“Keeping Americans safe in an increasingly digital world depends on our ability to lawfully screen materials entering the United States,” DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. “The new directives announced today strike the balance between respecting the civil liberties and privacy of all travelers while ensuring DHS can take the lawful actions necessary to secure our borders.”

There’s still definite privacy concerns, though. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit for more information on the searches earlier this week. It believes the DHS policy violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure.

What do you think? Were you one of those 1000 searched since October last year?

[DHS via Wall Street Journal]

A 62-year-old tourist was trying to enter the United States when he was stopped at customs to have his fingerprints scanned. This was a problem for both him and the customs agents, for he had no fingerprints.

The man, dubbed Mr. S in news reports, was detained for hours as agents checked to make sure he wasn’t some sort of sneaky criminal or terrorist. But no, it turns out his fingerprints were removed without his knowledge.

He was taking capecitabine, a follow-up drug for chemotherapy for cancer of the head and neck. One of its side effects is inflammation of the palms and soles of the feet, which can cause peeling and bleeding of the skin and, eventually, can cause fingerprints to vanish.

Mr. S had been taking capecitabine for three years when he decided to visit relatives in the States, at which point his prints were gone. Luckily, he was eventually allowed to enter the country and visit his relatives once the officials determined that he wasn’t dangerous. [ABC News]

The push – which originates from the RIAA in the US – is global in scale, and the Australian government has openly admitted it is partaking in the discussions (although they haven’t agreed to any aspect of the arrangement).

There’s also a lot of confusion over exactly what will be considered as commercial levels of piracy.

If the government is foolish enough to vote this draconian ruling in, I think it would be a good time to join one of those floating communities in the Pacific… How the government can even be considering such a stupid proposition is beyond me.

[News.com.au]