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Re: China blocking Wired?

2010-01-11 14:49:23
Dean,

Oddly, I've had none of the experiences you've had and I've been known to 
travel a bit (1.6 million miles on United, top frequent flier "honors" on 3 
carriers (UAL, NWA, JAL) simultaneously, etc.), including to quite a few places 
where folks from the US weren't particularly popular.  The only place I've had 
"secondary screening" has been in the US (most recently last week flying from 
IAD to LAX).  The only country in which I've had to even power on equipment to 
demonstrate it isn't a prop has been the US.  I've never had anything 
confiscated.  Well, OK, I did have a nail cuticle clipper (with a 1/4 inch 
blade) confiscated in Singapore but somehow I was able to survive.

This really isn't that hard.  Unless you have diplomatic or some other 
treaty-based immunity, you are subject to the laws of the country you are in 
and it is your responsibility to be aware of those laws.  Some countries follow 
the rule of law more than others and some countries are more corrupt than 
others.  China is better than some, worse than others.  That's reality.  If you 
don't like this, don't go.

Regards,
-drc

On Jan 11, 2010, at 12:21 PM, Dean Willis wrote:


On Jan 11, 2010, at 1:21 PM, Ole Jacobsen wrote:

Dean,

Get real. When have you EVER had any reading material inspected by ANY
authority ANYWHERE in the world? OK, so I am not aware of your
particular reading habits and yes, I *can* imagine that *some*
material *might* attract the attention of customs officials in any
given part of the world, but it would have to be pretty extreme and
you would have to literally wave it in front of their faces. WIRED
Magazine does NOT in any way fall into the sort of material I am
imagining, and I think you know that.

That's a pretty naive position, Ole.  I've had training manuals confiscated 
at the Canadian border, had my laptop "data searched" in a couple of places,  
had my bags detained for setting off chemical detectors (although returned 
after secondary searching), had a science-fiction paper-back book confiscated 
(apparently the cover image was "pornographic", although they didn't bother 
to arrest me, and thankfully, I had already finished the book), and probably 
quite a few other events over the years. I've even had the sorts of jobs 
where everything on my person, including papers, got inspected by guards when 
I was going in and out of the workplace each day.

I'm really surprised you haven't had events like this yourself.

We should obviously obey the laws of the country in which we have our
meeting, but dreaming up worst case scenarios isn't helpful. Really.

Sometimes it is hard for outsiders to understand those laws you so blithely 
say we should obey. Laws can and do catch people by surprise. One of the most 
effective ways to prevent surprise is by as king "what if" questions. Do you 
not think it is reasonable to subject the real-world to the same sort of 
scenario analysis that we would demand of a transport protocol?

--
Dean

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