Returning To Us With Media Downloaded

[Jingthing]

This is about the USA. Americans know what we are talking about. American Homeland Security is HARDCORE! Also, where do you think most of those pirated movies are produced? That's right ... Hollywood USA.

Which part of the bit about a number of my colleagues (8 on this job!!) being Septics and traveling to and from every 5 weeks did you miss?

I got it but like I said before they don't have the bandwidth to bother everyone, but they do indeed bother SOME people, and if you they find a drive full of pirated American produced media, you're going to have a very bad time. Not as bad as heroin, I'll give you that.

That said, OK, can someone report here that they were caught with a drive full of pirated media entering the US and that nothing happened? Not a few disks, a drive full. If so, I'll be happy to adjust my perception of the risk.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Jingthing

[WarpSpeed]

If that seize your drive, they will find the encrypted portion and if a password is needed and you won't open it, well, you have no choice.

Yeah encrypted HD 's don't raise any red flags ...

Not being single anymore and traveling with my children hopefully I won't be tied up with this right to privacy violation. What ever happened to illegal search and seizure and due process with warrants and all that?.. I know, I know the patriot act and all that but I really don't think this falls under that purview where citizens are concerned..

While there's nothing to fear in my case I still feel violated and more over seriously inconvenienced without due process if this is the case..

A bit off topic but on our return I plan to go back with a bit of cash in hand I know you have to claim anything over $10,000, but if my wife gives my boys each $10,000 of their own and I carry it for them how do you think that would work out? That shouldn't be a problem should it?

[McGarty]

Or you could hide the files

[astral]

The UK has equipment (dogs?) to sniff for cd's with pirated music/movie dvds

[Richard4849]

The UK has equipment (dogs?) to sniff for cd's with pirated music/movie dvds

Do pirated CD's smell different from other CD's?

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

The UK has equipment (dogs?) to sniff for cd's with pirated music/movie dvds

Do pirated CD's smell different from other CD's?

:lol:

[Mario2008]

It is a bit of a grey area what is allowed and what not. MP3 songs and self written or copied CD's are often allowed, provided that it is a copy for personal use of actual cd's you own. Bit difficult to check, so a few cd's or an mp3 player is mostly left alone. That might be different for copied CD's with sleave an picture on the CD. Clearly downloaded movies will also be illegal.

[lomatopo]

Personally I've never had a problem, over 45 arrivals in the U.S. coming from Thailand, and I can't imagine anyone would. The one time I got a secondary arriving in the U.S (HNL) the agent, when opening my DVD pack and observing the handwritten titles commented "Oh, that's a great movie".

I returned Sep. 22 with ~25 self-burned DVDs and another 250 GB on a portable HDD but was not secondaried. I think for males, 35-65, coming from Thailand they are primarily concerned with child porn (bestiality is the only other porn category banned). But nowadays they realize that this can be uploaded and FTPed so the chances of actually catching someone are slim. At SFO last week it seemed like mainly foreigners with huge amounts of luggage were getting secondaried, I think a big concern these days is fruit, meat and veggies?

[Berkshire]

Somewhat off-topic, but since someone did bring up child porn....

....it appears some guy in the USA had his home broken into. The burglars stole some CDs, found child porn in some of them, and turned the guy in. The "victim" of the burglary was arrested. He was booked for possession of child pornography. Don't mess with child porn!

http://www.foxnews.c...test=latestnews

[dominique355]

Have you ever heard of TrueCrypt?

A handy program, which allows you to encrypt your files so nobody can open and read them.

But it goes even a step further. TrueCrypt even allows you to put a second file inside the encrypted file and make this second invisible. No chance for any custom inspector or other nosy people to even know there is a file on your harddisk.

[TheMysteriousMrTesla]

Have you ever heard of TrueCrypt?

A handy program, which allows you to encrypt your files so nobody can open and read them.

But it goes even a step further. TrueCrypt even allows you to put a second file inside the encrypted file and make this second invisible. No chance for any custom inspector or other nosy people to even know there is a file on your harddisk.

If you encrypt the whole drive it appears unformatted unless you know the TrueCrypt keys.

So, buy a new external drive, encrypt it, use a hidden TrueCrypt partition too if you're paranoid, put your stuff on it, put it back in the box and into your checked baggage. "Officer, that's new, I didn't even have chance to format it". Maybe keep some work files and personal banking stuff in the outer container for plausible deniability.

Edited October 7, 2011 by TheMysteriousMrTesla

[yermanee]

No surprise for me that the majority of the posters here, truly believe that laws, rules and regulations do NOT apply to them.

Sad really

Yermanee

[londoedan]

No surprise for me that the majority of the posters here, truly believe that laws, rules and regulations do NOT apply to them.

Sad really

Yermanee

Keep your hair on !

I don't think any of the posters here are advocating trafficking kiddie porn or other dodgy materials.

I do think most of us would like to get through customs / security checks with a few pirated DVD's. I continue to go to the cinema and watch new releases, but I personally don't think taking these DVD's home, for personal use, is crime of the century .

Simon

[jaideeguy]

It is a fact that anyone can download this same 'pirated' material from any computer anywhere off the many torrent sites out there and makes me wonder how illegal it is to DL from a torrent site for personal use only in the US??

[yermanee]

No surprise for me that the majority of the posters here, truly believe that laws, rules and regulations do NOT apply to them.

Sad really

Yermanee

Keep your hair on !

I don't think any of the posters here are advocating trafficking kiddie porn or other dodgy materials.

I do think most of us would like to get through customs / security checks with a few pirated DVD's. I continue to go to the cinema and watch new releases, but I personally don't think taking these DVD's home, for personal use, is crime of the century .

Simon

AFAIK pirated DVD's are against the law.

I' m not accusing anyone of smuggling kiddie porn or other dodgy materials. Read my post again.

I find it sad that people condone cheating as long as they are doing the cheating themselves, but oh dear if someone tries to cheat on them.

Thaivisa is full of topics on perceived scams, cheaters, thieving scum etc. etc.

Yermanee :jap:

[Richard4849]

Pirated Dvd's ARE dodgy material, according to the law.

Not being judgmental, but there IS a risk involved in bringing in such materials, and yes just downloading them. There have been thousands of criminal cases against people who have done just that.

Do what you want to do -- but know the risks.

[londoedan]

Do what you want to do -- but know the risks.

When I was younger I smoked a bit of dope, I occasionally go above 70 mph on motorways and I've even chewed gum in Singapore. And apparently prostitution is illegal in Thailand .

I can sleep at nights.

But your right, I won't me moving pirated DVD's between countries again - just in case

Simon

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Movies that the copyright has expired on are legal to download. Look at Guggenheim they have thousands that can be downloaded free and legally. Movies produced between 1923 and 1963 can have an expired copyright but to determine which ones have expired is near impossible. I don't think customs would know or have the time to research it.

[Beetlejuice]

Putting aside that this is not strictly legal and you may have to serve a 50 year jail term or receive the death penalty for this diabolical crime, have you considered FORMAT?

For example, in Thailand and Europe movie formats are pal (25fps).

Back in the States, movie formats are ntsc (29fps).

So if your friend prefers to watch these movies on TV via a DVD player, then your movie formats may not be compatable with the US system and equipment.

It is also possible to archive your movies on your harddrive upload them onto a storage website, give your friend access to the site, then all he needs to do is download the files, extract onto his harddrive and either burn onto a DVD or copy onto a flash drive.

Edited October 7, 2011 by Beetlejuice

[thaibeachlovers]

No surprise for me that the majority of the posters here, truly believe that laws, rules and regulations do NOT apply to them.

Sad really

Yermanee

The law really is an ass, and if you look at the people that make them, you know why.

Yes the laws apply to everyone, but they're stupid, for the most part.

When the healthcare bill was passed in the States, how many lawmakers had actually read it? Probably none- remember that idot Nancy saying "if you want to know what's in it you have to pass it"?

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

DVD's are a thing of the past, why have all those DVD's when you can put thousands of movies on a hard drive and it is much easier to find and play what you want.. Much less space requirements and easier to organize and in the long run much cheaper also.

[thaibeachlovers]

It is a bit of a grey area what is allowed and what not. MP3 songs and self written or copied CD's are often allowed, provided that it is a copy for personal use of actual cd's you own. Bit difficult to check, so a few cd's or an mp3 player is mostly left alone. That might be different for copied CD's with sleave an picture on the CD. Clearly downloaded movies will also be illegal.

Which is why I always take the disk out of the commercial cover and put them in one of those CD/ DVD cases that holds about 30 or so, and mix them up with a few cheap music CDs.

I think it's going to be almost impossible for any customs officer to make a judgement on a box full of DVDs that could be copied off tv, which is completely legal for personal use, especially as it is possible to make you're own labels to stick on the disk. I took or posted home over 2,000 disks copied from tv. How long would it take to look at all of them and verify whether they were legally copied or pirates? The cost of doing so would also be substantial.

Nobody has mentioned the VCDs that are available very cheaply from any Thai department store, As they are sold in reputable stores, they must be legal.

[Gerryasia1]

Should there be any worries about the copywrite cops or US customs upon return?

If you have a backup at home than you just delete the files, deep delete if you want to be sure, before taking it back to the US.

Why would he want to delete the data/media he wants to take ?

Right, I have my HD to avoid losing my irreplaceable data. I'm going to have to go through an entire violation of my person just to return to my country? That really sucks, I didn't have to do that coming here or when I left the US all post 9/11 within the last decade.. Is there some overreaction here maybe? Can someone who has actually returned post their experience... I have literally hundreds of personal videos and family pictures, doesn't seem reasonable they'd be checking all of those..

I left there with my PC as a carry on and no one made a single mention on either end, now you're suggesting I'll have to endure how long to go through my computer, flash drives and HD after a 29 hour flight with 2 kids? I mean without opening EVERY file there's no reasonable way they can know if any contain contraband. They don't and won't but that really isn't the point is it?

Went thru LAX a few months back...all kinds of computer and pirate DVD stuff(even porn)...bags searched thoroughly, cuz I had them plastic wrapped from Phuket...no probs.

[WarpSpeed]

Right, I have my HD to avoid losing my irreplaceable data. I'm going to have to go through an entire violation of my person just to return to my country? That really sucks, I didn't have to do that coming here or when I left the US all post 9/11 within the last decade.. Is there some overreaction here maybe? Can someone who has actually returned post their experience... I have literally hundreds of personal videos and family pictures, doesn't seem reasonable they'd be checking all of those..

I left there with my PC as a carry on and no one made a single mention on either end, now you're suggesting I'll have to endure how long to go through my computer, flash drives and HD after a 29 hour flight with 2 kids? I mean without opening EVERY file there's no reasonable way they can know if any contain contraband. They don't and won't but that really isn't the point is it?

Went thru LAX a few months back...all kinds of computer and pirate DVD stuff(even porn)...bags searched thoroughly, cuz I had them plastic wrapped from Phuket...no probs.

That's good to hear as I also hope to trasnfer all of my racing vids to digital before I leave for protecting them as copies plus the videos are degrading and it's HOURS of racing vids from my own personal races. On second thought that ought to put the officer to sleep pretty quickly and force them to give it all back and move me right along in short order ..

[spyke]

why do you think the europeans don't like the US style.the people are great but the gouverment is like the nazis.citizen kane is disneyland comparing to the US customs and boardercontrol.i never ever wanne visit the states, 10 finger digits, asking why i have cash in my pocket, things like that, and then they preach freedom, yeah right.they check our luggage from time to time to in belgium, but we don't get stupid questions from some kind of rent a cop why i have 9000€ in my pocket, its my money and my problem (i have a ticket from my bank)same with computers they don't check it because they know faul people with bad stuff store it on line.