ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitute/psref/tabook.pdf

If you want to buy an ibm laptop you should only look at tabook.pdf

--timball

tabook.pdf

This is basically just a coverage of the facts as they exist so far, but I found this observation objectionable:

Another consideration to take into account is the likelihood of illegal materials
being smuggled into the United States through laptops and electronic storage devices.
As stated in Ramsey, “[t]he border search exception is grounded in the recognized
right of the sovereign to control...who and what may enter the country.”56 Laptops
can present a problem to the national interest in controlling what enters the country
because the vast and compact storage capacity of laptops can be used to smuggle
illegal materials. In light of this, routine searches of laptops at the border may be
justified because of the strong government interest in preventing the dissemination
of child pornography and other forms of “obscene” material that are oftentimes
contained in laptops.57

This is a phoney rationalization. I think it is astronomically unlikely that people are intentionally sneaker netting illegal materials into the country on laptop hard drives. People looking to transfer data typically do it over the internet, and if its illegal data they'd likely encrypt it. An important bit of self examination that the legal system needs to perform here is to ask itself why its perfectly fine for the police to rifle through data if it enters the country on a hard drive, certainly without a warrant and possibly without any "reasonable suspicion" at all, but a warrant is required to look at the same data if it is transfered across the same border over the internet. One of these two conclusions must be wrong. Furthermore, at a border the police might ensist on being able to seize computers or detain people if passwords aren't offered, but certainly the police cannot demand encryption keys for overseas telecommunications!

These inconsistencies lend to the conclusion that these searches are an abuse of a specific loophole in the law that only occurs in a particular context rather than a reasonable strategy that fits well into an overall approach to law enforcement and civil liberties. Certainly most if not all smuggling is occurring online, and most if not all illegal material discovered in border searches is discovered because people happen to carry a lot of personal data around with them on laptops when they travel and not because there was a primary intent to travel for and use the laptop as a vehicle to transport the data to another country for distribution to people in that country.

Another justification may be to facilitate searches of laptops
owned by suspected terrorists which may contain information related to a planned
terrorist attack.

While technically correct, its possible that terrorists might do anything. If the possibility that terrorists might do something means that the 4th amendment must be completely disposed of in that context, the 4th amendment must be completely disposed of in all contexts. The fact is that it is astronomically unlikely that law enforcement will happen upon a terrorist plot at random through random searches of laptop hard drives, and searches of laptop hard drives also do not fit into a specific strategic plan to eliminate terrorism. This is another a posteriori attempt at rationalizing the abuse of a loophole.

RE: Border Searches of Laptops and Other Electronic Storage Devices

A report of the Congressional Research Service:

The Fourth Amendment generally requires a warrant to support most searches and seizures conducted by the government. Federal courts have long recognized that there are many exceptions to this general presumption, one of which is the border search exception. The border search exception permits government officials, in most “routine” circumstances, to conduct searches with no suspicion of wrongdoing whatsoever. On the other hand, in some “non-routine” and particularly invasive situations, customs officials are required to have “reasonable suspicion” in order to conduct a search. Several federal courts have recently applied the border search exception to situations in which customs officials conducted searches of laptops and other electronic storage devices at the border. Though the federal courts have universally held that the border search exception applies to laptop searches conducted at the border, the degree of cause required to support the search has not been established. Though some federal appellate courts do not appear to require any degree of suspicion to justify a search, one federal district court stated categorically that all laptop searches conducted at the border require at least reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.

Border Searches of Laptops and Other Electronic Storage Devices

On my first weekend last fall, I eagerly shut it all down on Friday night, then went to bed to read. (I chose Saturday because my rules include no television, and I had to watch the Giants on Sunday). I woke up nervous, eager for my laptop. That forbidden, I reached for the phone. No, not that either. Send a text message? No. I quickly realized that I was feeling the same way I do when the electricity goes out and, finding one appliance nonfunctional, I go immediately to the next. I was jumpy, twitchy, uneven.

I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really. - New York Times

Ever wonder what that cop is doing in his cruiser that's parked behind your car with lights flashing -- while your heart is pounding and you're searching for your license and registration? Most likely, he's researching you on his laptop, and finding a surprisingly large amount of information. According to Lt. Paul Shastany of the Framingham, Mass., Police Department (FPD), laptops in the unit's 24 patrol cars are the most important recent technology innovation that aids police work.

Backup is especially crucial for police departments, where lack of data can make or break a court case. "We back up everything constantly," Burman says. Once per month, he goes out to the cars and copies report data to CDs. The information is also stored on the department network, and the system is backed up every night onto the town hall network.

For even more redundancy, the police department and fire department run identical Keystone applications on identical servers connected by a fiber-optic network, so each department can back up the other's data. If there's a crash on the FPD server, Burman can change his server's IP address to the fire department's server and the police department is back up and running.

Police tech: How cops use IT to catch bad guys

k wrote:

Udy, a British citizen, said the agent told her he had "a security concern" with her. "I was basically given the option of handing over my laptop or not getting on that flight," she said.

Oh my god, FUCK that. No more international flights with computers folks. Unless you want your shit gone through. My laptop is infinitely more sensitive and private than my underwear and shit in my bag. There is a zero percent chance I'm letting some fucking guy go through it without a warrant.

If this becomes a common practice for domestic flights, commerce will grind to a halt. Beyond that though, I just won't travel anymore. What complete horseshit.

I guess I'm surprised by your surprise. This matter has been discussed on MemeStreams several times in the past, including by you...

I posted the WaPo article BoingBoing is referencing here.

There are at least ten other references to this practice.

As the first reference is from 2005, one suspects this was a result of the resounding Republican victory in the 2004 Presidential and Congressional elections. Glad those Republicans are there to defend my freedom from encroachment by the state... Oh wait, except totally the opposite. What a bunch of fucking hypocrits.

RE: US Customs TSA confiscating laptops - Boing Boing

Udy, a British citizen, said the agent told her he had "a security concern" with her. "I was basically given the option of handing over my laptop or not getting on that flight," she said.

Oh my god, FUCK that. No more international flights with computers folks. Unless you want your shit gone through. My laptop is infinitely more sensitive and private than my underwear and shit in my bag. There is a zero percent chance I'm letting some fucking guy go through it without a warrant.

If this becomes a common practice for domestic flights, commerce will grind to a halt. Beyond that though, I just won't travel anymore. What complete horseshit.

US Customs TSA confiscating laptops - Boing Boing

Thinking it was about my stolen wallet, I let the mid-40s, ripe-bellied officers into my apartment, the whole time thinking, 'Wow, your wallet gets stolen in Denmark and the cops visit to make sure you're OK. The service.' After they sat down in the kitchen, I asked what was up, and was told, 'Well, you stole a credit card and ordered a bunch of shit online. And we know about it.'

Coppa what?

'What? Wait. Wait. What. What?!' I said. 'Can we do this in English? I thought you just said I stole a credit card.'
'Your Danish is fine,' the dough-faced one said in Danish. 'We know you stole it, we know what you did. We're here to take your computer.'
'My computer, why?'
'We traced the transaction back to the wireless network in this apartment.'
'But we have an open wireless connection. It's unsecured.'
'The internet doesn't work that way.'
'What? Wait. What?'

This conversation repeated itself three or four times, and somehow moved into the bedroom, in front of my laptop.

How the team at 'CSI: Denmark' stole my computer - Vox

Wow, flying out of SFO just became much worse. While traveling this morning I surprised to find out that TSA is now requiring that you remove all electronic devices from your carry-on bags, including cables etc. and place them in a separate bin to be scanned at the security checkpoints. Along with slowing down the line to a crawl, this will undoubtedly lead to people losing expensive equipment, not to mention the possiblity for your stuff to be accidentally taken by someone else or even stolen.

Of course none of this information is mentioned on either the TSA or SFO websites.

Does anyone know if TSA is requiring this at any other airports?

Huh. Well, fuck that. This would take about 5 minutes for me. I don't keep, e.g. the charger for my DS, camera, etc. at the top... it's usually buried in my bag. I typically travel with laptop, cell phone, camera, ipod and nintendo ds, plus cables for each of those devices. Say what you will about my gadget oriented lifestyle, but whatever. I'll fly less before I'll give up the things that make the experience even marginally tolerable as is, or deal with even worse headaches in the ATL security lines.

This country needs so much help.

New Arbitrary TSA requirement: all electronics out of your bag (cables, too) - Boing Boing

The laptop computer hard drives stolen from the Davidson County Election Commission office are in the hands of Metro police.

It doesn't appear that sensitive information was accessed, police reported.

Investigators found the computer hardware at The Muse, a club in the 800 block of Fourth Avenue South. The business features concerts, tattoos and an exercise studio.

Tax records show that an investor group owns the building.

Police said 45-year-old Robert Osbourne admitted to selling the computers at the business for cash.

Metro's Code Enforcement department shut down the building Thursday due to violations.

Metro police said other parts of the stolen computers were found at a home in Goodlettsville.

Stolen Laptops Recovered