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CrimsonKing
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**US CUSTOMS TO OPEN ALL INTERNATIONAL MAIL ** MUST READ **
got this off the CHAT board ...
http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144709
Credit to Prometheus for posting....
Act Would OK Snail Mail Searches
By Declan McCullagh
May 23, 2002
WASHINGTON -- Just a few years ago, the U.S. Postal Service got savaged by privacy advocates after suggesting that private mailbox services were somehow objectionable.
Since services like Mailboxes Etc. could encourage fraud, the post office declared, businesses must limit anonymity by demanding photo ID from all customers.
Three years later, the Postal Service's lobbyists are fighting for Americans' privacy rights -- and opposing a bill in Congress that would allow U.S. Customs agents to open any mailed letter or parcel for almost any reason.
So far, the Postal Service has had little luck: On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the new surveillance powers by a 327 to 101 vote. The bill, titled the Customs Border Security Act, says that incoming or outgoing mail can be searched at the border "without a search warrant."
The vote on the larger bill -- which deals mostly with the budget for the U.S. Customs Service -- came after a surprisingly heated debate on the House floor over an amendment that would have deleted the mail-snooping sections.
"Exercise of these new powers could infringe on the right of innocent Americans to travel and communicate internationally free of unnecessary federal control," says Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Congress' most ardent libertarian. "Please say no to unconstitutional searches and unaccountable government, and say yes to liberty and constitutional government "
Under current law, it is already legal for Customs agents to open packages they deem to be suspicious.
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rest of article:
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,52739,00.html
got this off the CHAT board ...
http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144709
Credit to Prometheus for posting....
Act Would OK Snail Mail Searches
By Declan McCullagh
May 23, 2002
WASHINGTON -- Just a few years ago, the U.S. Postal Service got savaged by privacy advocates after suggesting that private mailbox services were somehow objectionable.
Since services like Mailboxes Etc. could encourage fraud, the post office declared, businesses must limit anonymity by demanding photo ID from all customers.
Three years later, the Postal Service's lobbyists are fighting for Americans' privacy rights -- and opposing a bill in Congress that would allow U.S. Customs agents to open any mailed letter or parcel for almost any reason.
So far, the Postal Service has had little luck: On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the new surveillance powers by a 327 to 101 vote. The bill, titled the Customs Border Security Act, says that incoming or outgoing mail can be searched at the border "without a search warrant."
The vote on the larger bill -- which deals mostly with the budget for the U.S. Customs Service -- came after a surprisingly heated debate on the House floor over an amendment that would have deleted the mail-snooping sections.
"Exercise of these new powers could infringe on the right of innocent Americans to travel and communicate internationally free of unnecessary federal control," says Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Congress' most ardent libertarian. "Please say no to unconstitutional searches and unaccountable government, and say yes to liberty and constitutional government "
Under current law, it is already legal for Customs agents to open packages they deem to be suspicious.
-----------------
rest of article:
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,52739,00.html
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