Canadian Charges Against US Manga Reader Dropped 298
tverbeek writes "The U.S.-based Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Canada-based Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund have announced that the Canadian government has withdrawn all criminal charges in R. v. Matheson, a case which involved a U.S. citizen who was arrested and faced criminal charges in Canada relating to manga found on his computer when he entered the country. Customs agents declared the illustrations of fictional characters to be 'child pornography.' The defendant, a 27-year-old comic book reader, amateur artist, and computer programmer, has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. Despite financial assistance from the CBLDF and CLLDF, he has an outstanding debt of $45K for his defense."
Drop charges == pay? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you drop charges from the case then you should pay the legal fees for the defense. Or is this up to the judge?
Re:Drop charges == pay? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Drop charges == pay? (Score:5, Insightful)
sco wasn't a _criminal_ case.
criminal cases ie. public prosecution vs. a private person with criminal charges, of course the state should pay when it loses. but the state didn't lose, it withdrew. like if coppers showed up at your house, intimidated you that they're going to take you to court for things xyz, then you go to a lawyer and ask if there's any merit and the lawyer says no and then the cops don't proceed further to do anything.
I guess it's in this case the state didn't pay because the prosecution dropped the case..? doesn't make much sense, but plausable.. if they withdrew and it never went to court then a judge didn't decide anything on the case, didn't find the prosecution to pay for damages/costs.. pretty fucked up though, he should sue the state.
shitty summary strikes again! (Score:5, Informative)
the important bit from the actual article.
"Mr. Matheson has agreed to plead to a non-criminal code regulatory offense under the Customs Act of Canada. As a result of the agreement, Matheson will not stand trial. The defense of this case was waged by Michael Edelson and Solomon Friedman of Edelson Clifford D’Angelo LLP. The full Notices of Application detailing Edelson’s defense and outlining the outrageous and unlawful treatment Matheson endured are available here: Charter Notice and Jan 15 12 – Matheson Charter Notice."
Re:shitty summary strikes again! (Score:5, Insightful)
the important bit from the actual article.
I beg to differ. The important bit from the actual article:
He was subjected to abusive treatment by police and a disruption in his life that included a two-year period during which he was unable to use computers or the internet outside of his job, severely limiting opportunities to advance his employment and education. ... Matheson was even told by police transporting him to prison that "if you get raped in here, it doesn't count!"
What a !@#$ing travesty, and for a comic book! Sue for malicious prosecution. They admitted their guilt when they dropped it. That it took them two years and $31,000.00 from two advocacy orgs PLUS, is even worse! Both those orgs and Ryan deserve to be compensated for this cluster!@#$.
And I don't even *get* Manga. Holy Kafkaesque, Batman! :-P
Re:shitty summary strikes again! (Score:5, Informative)
What's incredibly scary for me is that it is easier than people might think to get caught by this. I live in Japan and my friend's daughter (who lives in Canada) asked if I could mail her a manga so that she could practice reading Japanese. Her favorite anime at the time was Inu Yasha.
No problem! I bought the manga, was all ready to mail it off when I thought, "Hey, I haven't read this for a while, maybe I'll just give it a read". Half way through the book, there's a picture of the main character (a 14 years old girl) taking a bath in the lake. Not an erotic scene IMHO, but I guarantee it meets the definition of child porn in Canada.
That's just what I need; to have a record for importing child porn to Canada.
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Eh, the Japanese mentality on nudity / art is different from the Western mentality; as such, what is considered very acceptable in Japan is considered offensive in the US. Given the popularity of manga in Japan, as well as its rising popularity in Western countries, the Canadians were faced with a very nasty choice -> declare the content, under very prudish standards, to be 'child pornography' and risk a international incident (because it would be totally cool for Canada to declare the Japanese to be a b
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This is weird, because all the things you say ("this is a country where...", "Salem witch trials", "Prohibition") are things that sound more like the USA. I thought Canada was supposed to be a saner place, but now I'm not so sure.
This is in the realm of "child porn". There is no right that the authorities will recognize if it's between them and prosecuting paedophiles. "Think of the children!" Welcome to Salem, 2012. An accusation is as good as a conviction.
"Prove you're innocent, blasphemous witch!"
"It's just a comic book!"
"Not good enough."
"But, it's just a comic book!!!"
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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They disappeared. That's what happens when someone pushes the "think of the children" button.
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More like the cops kick your door in, break all your stuff and pile it up in the yard, rip your house down and then after finding nothing of interest "magnanimously" offer to not haul you off anyway and shoot your dog so long as you "agree" that they don't owe you any damages.
Re:Drop charges == pay? (Score:5, Interesting)
How about if you drop charges you pay for the defense to date (and a reasonable compensation for any jail time or lost opportunities) but if you prosecute and fail you pay triple. Just to make sure there's no dirty dealing, if you manage through misconduct to get a conviction you shouldn't have, you get to do the time yourself.
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If the prosecutor has so little care for justice or the taxpayer, perhaps Mr. Taxpayer should run him out of town.
Be falsely accused, become poor (Score:5, Insightful)
Legal systems aren't any fun to ever get involved with.
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This could be the next Universal Health care. Universal law coverage. Except you kind of need medical help when you need it, since your body doesn't care if you have insurance. Being arrested and having to mount a costly legal deference could have been avoided by not arresting him for cartoons.
Re:Be falsely accused, become poor (Score:4, Insightful)
We actually have universal law coverage in the US, Canada, and other countries (at least for criminal charges). It's called a "court-appointed attorney", and it's generally the quality of legal care that you would get by going to a free clinic. It may be adequate if all you have is a throat infection or a laceration on your arm, but pretty much worthless for treatment of your pancreatic cancer.
Re:Be falsely accused, become poor (Score:5, Informative)
In most places in the US, if you have assets of any kind (car, etc.) or even just have a job, you're likely to be denied a court-appointed attorney.
Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Insightful)
gee, only $45,000 in debt
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Insightful)
who says he could afford it? he didn't have a choice but to defend himself.
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Funny)
You must be a TERRORIST!
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I read Ultra64's post as sarcasm. If he couldn't get 45k in loans what would have happened? to get 45k in loans to pay for criminal charges you have to have assets that will cover that, since you can't guarantee future earnings will be able to make up for 45k.
Sure, in the grand scheme of things 45K isn't that much money, at least, it shouldn't be for someone in the US/canada that is a 'computer programmer'. Lots of programming students face that much in debt coming out of school. But if you don't have it
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Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Funny)
Fair? Ha! This is the US "Justice" System we're talking about, fair has nothing to do with it!
Except that Canada technically isn't one of the United States. It's more like Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia.
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Fair? Ha! This is the US "Justice" System we're talking about, fair has nothing to do with it!
Except that Canada technically isn't one of the United States. It's more like Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia.
Not that there's a difference, really.
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Informative)
>I read Ultra64's post as sarcasm
Yeah, I thought it was incredibly obvious I was being sarcastic.
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Yeah, I thought it was incredibly obvious I was being sarcastic.
Are you being sarcastic?
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know anymore.
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Informative)
The actual cost of his defense was $75K. The other $30K was paid by the two legal defense funds.
The defendant's personal statement about the case is worth reading: rather chilling: http://cbldf.org/homepage/ryan-mathesons-personal-statement/ [cbldf.org]
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Interesting)
The real deal-breaker here is that he made a plea bargain. Unfortunately, this is how he lost. I know first-hand how this can go. By making a plea, you are granting the prosecution a free pass on any treatment or unfairness you may experience in the process.
But I feel for the guy. He's young and likely scared. And after almost two years of this crap hanging over his head, misery, depression and paranoia are among the giant mess of emotions he was probably feeling.
Still, it's a lot of money and I would consult with an attorney about the wrongful arrest and try to get some backing by one or more professionals in the field of psychological medicine to support a case based on his pain and suffering he was subjected to over a very long period. And believe me, being charged with something false and having such things hanging over your head and over your future horizons is no small matter.
He should definitely sue. He will probably lose because a judge would not want to cripple his criminal justice system with a precedential ruling in favor of the former defendant, but there's a good chance they might settle with him to keep the profile on the issue down.
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:4, Informative)
The real deal-breaker here is that he made a plea bargain.
This is Canada (not USA). I know you US-ians do that sort of stuff regularly, but that's (from what I'm used to) not done here, that I know of.
I still don't understand what to or why he pled the charges; still researching. I'm beginning to feel like a stranger in a strange land, and I live here. This guy shouldn't have needed to plead to anything! WTF is a "non-criminal regulatory offense"? I've never heard of it. Bringing too many cigs across the border?
As part of the deal, the prosecutor withdrew all criminal charges against me. I knew my defense was extremely strong, but I also knew all trials are inherently risky. If I had gone to full trial, the original criminal charges against me posed the risk of a minimum mandatory sentence of one year plus having to register on a sex offender registry in Canada and potentially even in the United States.
Ho. Ly. !@#$.
Lend me a gun somebody?
This case was important to me. Japanese animation and manga are something I hold precious. I first got into anime when I was about eight years old by watching Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z that aired on TV at the time.
Sailor Moon. Dragon Ball Z. So, what innocuous hobbies are going to trigger attack dogs on me? ReBoot? Guilty as charged. Take me away!
Ryan, I apologize for my country's actions.
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Italics from linked statement
The law shouldn’t be based on what you like or don’t like. The people should have their own choice to pursue what they like and avoid what they don’t like.
Here's the problem. He's talking about what the law should and should not be, and not what the law is. There is not a single legal system in the world which allows people to pursue what they like. Drug laws, bestiality laws, incest laws, homosexuality laws, indecency laws, are everywhere, and are differe
Re:Justice for those who can afford it. (Score:5, Insightful)
You took the quotes completely out of context. He doesn't mean what you're implying at all.
For those who don't want to bother RTFA, here's the full paragraph:
Others like me that are interested in comics, manga and anime should become informed about this important issue and stick together. Some people may be tempted to say things like, “Well, I don’t like that type of manga” or “That doesn’t bother me — I’ve never read that title,” but you should step back and take a look at the big picture. The law shouldn’t be based on what you like or don’t like. The people should have their own choice to pursue what they like and avoid what they don’t like. When overzealous governments try to unjustly attack comics and manga, they are attacking all of literature and art as a whole. Free speech should be absolute, not a pick-and-choose sort of thing. This is a very important right that we enjoy every day and we need to stand up for ourselves and protect it!
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I'm a bit confused by "-1, Troll"
"Anime and manga" (Score:5, Informative)
From the press release: "Moreover, they should also be aware that although anime and manga is legal in many areas of the United States and Japan, etc., to possess and utilize..."
The hell? Makes it sound like all anime and manga have naked children in them. Also, Matheson didn't get off scot-free: "Mr. Matheson has agreed to plead to a non-criminal code regulatory offense under the Customs Act of Canada."
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The hell? Makes it sound like all anime and manga have naked children in them.
A lot of people think they do, or at least some sort of depravity. I've never heard a mainstream show reference Grave of the Fireflies etc. but at least one sitcom has referred to the more... notable... elements of Legend of the Overfiend when discussing "Japanese cartoons".
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And, the way the justice system - at least in the US, not sure about Canada - was originally designed, the designers decided it was worth Al Capone running free, and he would eventually find himself staring down the barrel of one of his victim's firearms, taking care of the problem.
Re:"Anime and manga" (Score:5, Insightful)
Better that people like Al Capone run free than innocent people be punished.
Re:"Anime and manga" (Score:5, Insightful)
"Mr. Matheson has agreed to plead to a non-criminal code regulatory offense under the Customs Act of Canada."
Hey look buddy, we know you're going to sue the pants off of us if we don't nail you with something, so our lawyers found this obscure section of the customs code that is really vague and could nail anyone, because heh, that's what it's there for, and anyway, yeah... you're guilty, and your sentence is, er, nothing. But the important thing here is that justice was served: Namely, We Got Our Man(tm). Er, sorry about ruining your life dude... sorta. Okay, not really. Heh heh, eh? Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go watch videos of ourselves beating the crap out of a bunch of illegal immigrants as part of some 'sensitivity training'. It's mandatory, and so the boss made it BYOB. Man this job sucks... they don't pay for the beer. My last law enforcement job paid for the beer... oh .. crap... is this thing still recording?
Re:"Anime and manga" (Score:4, Insightful)
Depiction of children having sex is illegal in Canada. Even if you personally wrote it, or drew it.
Slide 1: Picture of anime character, age 10
Slide 2: Picture of anime character, age 14
Slide 3: Picture of anime character, age 18
Slide 4: Picture of anime character, age 20
Slide 5: Picture of anime character, age 30
Okay, if it would please the court, could the prosecution please point out which of these pictures depicts underage children, and which are of adults? Oh.. you mean it's the exact same artistic style? That there is no difference? Oh... okay.
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Right to the ad hominem attack. Skipping all argument, and rule of law.
Buddy, Canada is not the US.
1 - Go to Saudia Arabia, (a country practising Sharia law), and draw a picture of Allah in a police station.
2 - Now go to Canada and draw children having sex in a police station. Compare and contrast the punishment.
3 - Now, go ahead and call me a fucking idiot again, if you can. (I think you may well be dead at step 1). Just drawing pictures, right?
4 - Go to Washington DC, and make drawings of the White House,
More importantly... (Score:5, Informative)
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Child porn is censored in most of the world. Like it or not, that's the way of things.
The only question is defining exactly what constitutes "child porn." Are you guilty if you didn't know it was a child at the time? Are you guilty if its an adult pretending to be a child? What if they explicitly tell the camera that they're over 18 when they're obviously dressing in a manner than implies younger? Where is the line between child porn and art drawn? For that matter, 18 is only the magic number because
Re:"Anime and manga" (Score:5, Interesting)
The hell? Makes it sound like all anime and manga have naked children in them.
There's the mistake that everyone makes. The child pornography laws came about as a way to protect children from being exploited, i.e. abused, in the creation of said pornography. How this ever turned into "mind crime" is crazy. Now people accept that the possession of any representation, i.e. drawing, of an child, i.e. under the age of 18, in a sexual fashion is criminal. How did we ever get from one to the other?
Re:"Anime and manga" (Score:4, Funny)
Why do you Hate The Children???
Why won't you THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!
Re:"Anime and manga" (Score:4, Interesting)
Or, in this case, think of the imaginary children!
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I just burned my copy of Pretty Baby (1978) and the entire first season of Glee.
Ten years ago (Score:5, Insightful)
I knew that it would be best to leave my laptop at home when entering Canada. Even the Canadian customs officer, who was very nice, said, "That was a wise decision".
Re:Ten years ago (Score:5, Interesting)
What I don't understand is how they are even catching people with stuff on their computers in the first place. The comments on Slashdot (in various stories, not just this one) make it sound like laptops are routinely searched at the border (both in the US, and Canada).
But I've entered both those countries 20, 30 times (I'm Australian). Not once has my laptop been searched; nor have I seen officers request to search anyone else's. They don't seem to pay any attention to electronic devices at all (not surprising, basically everyone travels with a laptop/tablet these days).
So my question is: when and where are these searches occurring? Am I just lucky, or are these searches very rare to begin with (and probably only done if someone is stopped at the border for some other reason first?)
Drawings != child porn (Score:5, Insightful)
As distasteful as it may be in the case of images produced with the intent to be a form of child pornography, it sickens me to see artificially-produced images classified as child pornography. It opens the door to criminally penalizing people for something which must be judged based solely on opinion. There cannot be an objective judgment that an artificially-produced image constitutes "underage pornography," and criminal penalties should be based as closely on objectivity as possible.
These resources should be directed toward finding and jailing people who produce child pornography using actual children, not those who produce images which require (sometimes highly) subjective interpretation.
Re:Drawings != child porn (Score:5, Funny)
Won't someone think of the drawn children?!
Re:Drawings != child porn (Score:5, Insightful)
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Hey, corporations are people, so drawn children might be too.
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it sickens me to see artificially-produced images classified as child pornography
So you're a pedophile?
(That is the reaction I get when I say such things...)
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Here in the US, the system is actually designed to make it very easy to let someone not get convicted if a law is found to not be just.
Unfortunately, that's been subverted badly. And, as we export our political problems to Canada, look what happens.
Re:Drawings != child porn (Score:4, Interesting)
The swedish minister of law (it's funny because she dropped out of law school)
Actually, "Tant Gredelin" (AKA Beatrice Ask) never even attended law school, she briefly studied economics...
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Wow, sarcasm really doesn't work in this venue.
Re:Drawings != child porn (Score:5, Informative)
As I understand it, the images he was arrested and charge over were not even of children. They were adolescent/young-adult characters who might have been of legal age or maybe not. This ambiguity is not uncommon in the work of Japanese artists, especially in light of the cultural taboo (I'm not sure if it's still illegal in Japan) against drawing pubic hair. The initial judgment that the drawings were "child pornography" was made by a supervisor who had not even seen them, let alone someone qualified to somehow make that judgment.
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Moreover, he claims that the characters in the drawings in question were actually fully clothed.
So pictures of clothed people not involved in sexual acts and not necessarily underage is now 'Child Porn'.
What a travesty. As a Canadian, this is an embarrassing story for our legal system.
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Bad logic (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Bad logic (Score:4, Interesting)
While I strongly disagree with making it criminal, the most common logic I've heard is it will incite pedophiles to an action they wouldn't otherwise have taken.
Just like porn makes you go rape white women.
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The counterpoint being that without such material available the pedophiles will have to take actions they otherwise wouldn't have taken in order to get their release.
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I think the concern is more that if people can explore those kinds of thoughts, they're less likely to seek treatment.
The pedophiles seeing a therapist about their thoughts for ways to control them aren't the ones that concern me. The ones spanking off to pictures of kids playing in the park are the ones who do. While the vast majority of them will probably never act on those feelings, some of them will.
While it's debatable whether a drawn picture should be made illegal, there is an understandable logic beh
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While I strongly disagree with making it criminal, the most common logic I've heard is it will incite pedophiles to an action they wouldn't otherwise have taken.
Just like porn makes you go rape white women.
Yeah, all that porn all around us makes people go stark raving mad raping everyone in sight...
While in fact the liberalization of porn in the 70s resulted in a significant reduction of the number of rapes in the US. For obvious reasons... jerking off regularly reduces testosterone levels. It probably also blunts your response. Remember when people got all excited about seeing a woman's knee? Well I guess nobody would because that was like 100 years ago.
So you could argue that giving pedophiles something to
Re:Bad logic (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Drawings != child porn (Score:5, Funny)
You: "I swear, that drawing of a girl is 18."
Officer: "She looks 17 to me, I'm bringing you in."
You: Draws sketch of girl holding up drivers license showing age 18.
Officer: "Well OK then, but I'm watching you."
Should drawings of killings be considered the same as murder?
Re:Drawings != child porn (Score:4, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
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You know what else adds to the "potential of a child being abused"? Having children.
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so it's settled then, all parents should be sent to jail for abetting pedophiles.
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Don't forget statutory rape since she's a minor and the vampires are definitely more than 2 years older than her.
Microfinancing (Score:4, Informative)
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Misleading headline (Score:2)
He plead guilty, and in exchange the crown allowed a lesser charge.
Does /. really not understand the concept of a plea bargain?
Re:Misleading headline (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, we are well aware of how a plea bargain is used as extortion to force people to accept a charge they are innocent of when they cannot afford a proper defense or are afraid of the kangaroo court. Often it's used as an excuse to not pay damages that are ethically owed to the defendant.
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He had quite a bit of money made available to him, so that's not an issue.
Further, Canada is a civilized country that provides a defence for all accused. I understand that Americans may find that novel.
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Yeah right, I'm sure he didn't mind spending nearly 50 thousand dollars to defend himself from something which most people would not consider to be a crime! As for the defense bit, you will have to elaborate, because it is meaningless. Are you saying Canada gives a public defender more easily? Last I heard, you need to be dirt poor to get one, just like in the US, notwithstanding the fact that the accused is not even a citizen of Canada.
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It sounds like they didn't provide an adequate defense, because he had to hire $75,000 of lawyers.
And, in the US, you can get a public defender, too. Said public defender is usually about as good at defending as Windows Me is at being a stable, modern, secure operating system.
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Given that he's $45K in debt as a result of this, I would guess that he didn't have enough money made available.
Normally, Canada does seem to be more conscientious about this sort of thing, but this seems to have been an exception.
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Does /. really not understand the concept of a plea bargain?
Judging by the comments attached to this story I would say they do not.
Where's the victim of this cartoon porn? (Score:5, Insightful)
No crime committed.
Re:Where's the victim of this cartoon porn? (Score:5, Insightful)
The victim? There are plenty.
1) This guy, who's now $45K in debt defending himself from fraudulent charges.
2) The customs officer, for having seen these drawings, is now scarred for life.
3) Us, for having to waste time and energy yet again to assert that drawn pictures is not illegal.
Border crossing (Score:3)
Before going back across the border, save any work back to your remote server and delete the SCP client, browser, Truecrypt, and the encrypted file. If you're really paranoid, reinstall the OS from the rescue partition.
The secret to staying out of jail is pretty simple - don't be lazy, don't be stupid, don't poke the bear.
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The secret to staying out of jail is pretty simple - don't do anything, ever.
You are not cynical enough. The real secret to staying out of jail is even simpler - you must become a criminal, act as a criminal and think as a criminal. You don't have to do crimes, though. But your awareness of the police society will keep you safe.
Only starry-eyed innocents let themselves be caught with stuff. A man who is in fear of police would have simply mailed the laptop across the border; the computer, with the HDD
Re:Border crossing (Score:4, Informative)
Your "solution" is actually a pretty bad idea. Almost all customs that I've been through ask you explicitly if you are having anything shipped into the country that you are entering.
I'm not traveling much, but when I was returning from Germany about 10 years ago the customs agent only asked me, as an afterthought, if I bought anything abroad. I had not, and that was all.
Besides, let's assume that you say "yes." What will happen next? Will they refuse you the entry because you shipped a heavy item that you couldn't possibly carry? Will they arrest you for a few days until the shipment arrives and they inspect it? Those are ridiculous scenarios. IMO if you say yes then nothing at all will happen.
Maybe they changed the rules since then. But this question is like "Are you a member of a terrorist organization?" that you need to answer while you are still on the airplane. No sane person would ever answer "yes". A peaceful person will tell the truth, and a terrorist will lie. The question is there just to accuse the terrorist of lying on an official form once he is caught for something else. You can't throw a book at someone unless the book is thick enough.
If you are unable to lie convincingly, this still may be OK. The border guards may suspect that you aren't truthful, but they will have no factual reason to deny you the entry.
However they may not need facts to kick you out. For that reason you have other options. First, ask a friend to ship those things. His name will be on waybills, and you can honestly and truthfully say that you haven't shipped a thing. You can even ask your friend to ship the item AFTER you cross the border and tell him where you are staying. Then you'd be 100% honest at the border.
Second, you can take your laptop with you. There will be a blank HDD in it, with a fresh install of Ubuntu and a recent visit to CNN.com. They can look at it from every direction but there is nothing suspicious there. Once you cross you can copy your VirtualBox files over the Internet and do your thing. Once done, copy it back and reinstall Ubuntu.
My point is that too many people (and I'm often guilty of that myself) are trusting the government. This is bad for your survival. It is quite antisocial, but if you look at everyone as an adversary (most importantly if you do that toward people of power) then you will live longer and be happier. Paranoia is good for your survival. I wouldn't have said that 20 years ago, but now such conclusion is pretty clear.
The laptop story is just an example. You can be caught in many different dragnets, for fun or profit. You can be stopped on a freeway for exceeding the speed, even if you did not. I know where such things happen and don't ever go there. You can be stopped by CHP hiding behind overpasses and in bushes. I know those places and watch my speed there. Many other possibilities exist that may make your life more difficult. An adversarial approach lets you bypass many of these inconveniences. Criminals practice that approach all the time, necessarily. You don't have to be a criminal; however if you see a police car approaching, don't just hang around. The police doesn't give out cookies; all they give out is arrest records, and the best you can hope for is that they leave you alone. Help them with that.
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It only takes once to have your life completely upended (for a duration that might be long or short). Perhaps they don't like the photos of your family swimming in that pond you visited. Perhaps they confiscate all your code + work + etc. Either way, you end up with (at the best) missing equipment and data, and in the worst case end up with legal troubles that are Very Large.
It definitely seems like the safest (if not most convenient) way is to travel without personal or business data on your laptop/tablet
Canada is extremely strict in their customs (Score:5, Interesting)
This is from Ryan Matheson's Statement available here: http://cbldf.org/homepage/ryan-mathesons-personal-statement/
"Canada is extremely strict in their customs and immigration process — probably the strictest in the world — and should exercise extreme caution if you travel there."
I agree! In my pervious job I would travel to Canada from Michigan to approve equipment built in Canada from our specifications. This was usually $500,000.00 to $1,000,000.00 USD amount going INTO the Canadian ecomony.
This is how my last three trips went.
1. Entering Canada they pulled me over to be searched. They asked me the same question about 10-15 times trying to get me to say that I was working illegally in Canada without a work permit. I was not and they did not trip me up. They went through all my papers opened every compartment in the car and made a huge mess.
2. For a VACATION to Toronto to spend my own money in Canada I was threatened to be searched and finger printed while I was in the middle of driving about 12 hours after work.
3. On my most recent trip to approve equipment I had no problems. This is because I decided to start over with a new company in the US to build the equipment. If they want to treat me like a criminal then I have no reason to do business there.
As a side note this equipment is destined to other countries around the world so I have some experience with other customs inspections. You can fly to Europe, go to several countries and no one will even ask you why you are there. If you cross to Canada and back from the US expect to be interrogated and searched. BS.
The Lesson To Be Learned Is... (Score:3, Insightful)
I've traveled through North America, Asia, and Europe, and the above statement would apply to 95% of border guards/customs officials I've had to deal with.
1. Travel light.
2. Pack no printed material of any sort - if you're traveling for business, fax, email, or Fedex your documents ahead of you.
3. Computers/Laptops can and will be confiscated on the slightest pretext. You will never see it again. It's an early Christmas/Birthday gift for the Customs Official's kid.
4. Learn the etiquette of bribes for the country you are about to visit, especially in the "in some places its really dumb to try and bribe officials, in others it's an insult not to bribe them" sense.
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Are you serious? Forget to take your meds today? Or do you need to cut down on the dosage?
That's some pretty radical bigotry you got going on there... you might want to talk to a shrink about it.
I'm serious. That's the same sort of mentality that causes genuinely serious atrocities to be committed. Get help, before you really hurt somebody.
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Actually, most of us didn't vote for them.
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Ironically, that doesn't work if you are completely innocent in mind. That is, if you see nothing shady about the data.
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You can't do that if you already plead guilty to something. It's either wrongful prosecution or perjury.
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Re:Has anyone looked at the image in question? (Score:4, Informative)
Fuck this scared shit... Here you all go...
http://s582.photobucket.com/albums/ss263/Toxic_Alli101/?action=view¤t=shijuuhatte-48-positions-sd.png&newest=1 [photobucket.com]
Enjoy the horrible child rape porn... (fucking sad)