On Mon, 15 Jan 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:
YCO: " 'Cryptography'? " (A look of no comprehension.)
Me: "Yes, cryptography. You know, secret codes, ciphers, stuff like that."
YCO: "Were there any foreigners present?"
Me: "Yes, it was in Monte Carlo. There were some Russians there, and lots of others."
YCO: [brief pause] "Did you bring anything back with you?"
Me: "No."
YCO: [waved me through]
You were lucky. had the YCO understood the implications of crypto, he probably would not have been so genial. San Fransisco is a good entry port for that reason --it does not seem to be a major drug entry point via commercial airlines. Secondly, the four or five times I have gone through there have been hi-bye even though I am flagged --however, carrying a foreign service passport (which has no relation to immunity) requires them to manually enter the number... end of story in loose ports.
In my carry-on luggage I had half a dozen magneto-optical disks, carring about a gigabyte of stuff. (As props to use during my talk on the France/Monte Carlo side, ironically, to show that borders are fully transparent.)
For the record, I have _never_ imported or exported anything relevant as my own courier; there are far too many easy ways...
Frequent travellers to Europe will no doubt confirm what I'm saying. I travelled to dozens of countries in Europe a while back, and never was checked at any borders, save for a quick glance at my passport.
--Tim May
For the most part that is very true. The only places I ever get hassled is at obscure German-Swiss borders at night (driving). Usually an older officer stuck with nights to encourage resignation --breeds a foul temper and absolute lack of humour --not that the Swiss ever had one <g) --I can say that with impunity: I am Swiss. Other than bombs, the Europeans are just not cynically paranoid.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
yup, there's always high bandwidth spread spectrum in a truck. attila __________________________________________________________________________ go not unto usenet for advice, for the inhabitants thereof will say: yes, and no, and maybe, and I don't know, and fuck-off. _________________________________________________________________ attila__ To be a ruler of men, you need at least 12 inches....