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The Courts Government News

Serial Cables Illegal Due to DMCA? 445

Posted by CmdrTaco from the bad-cable-no-cookie dept.
Colin McMillen writes "I've recently had an interesting run-in with the DMCA... apparently, US Customs has rejected entry of a PC<->Sega Dreamcast serial cable into the US, supposedly due to copyright violations. This cable was to be used for Dreamcast programming for the Real-Time Systems class offered at my university. This seems to be a clear case of the DMCA abridging a perfectly valid educational use of a perfectly legal piece of hardware."
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Serial Cables Illegal Due to DMCA? More

Serial Cables Illegal Due to DMCA?

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  • Why not? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Registered Coward v2 ( 447531 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:00PM (#3008535)
    They obviously want to prevent serial crimnials from committing serial crimes.

  • Publish the pinouts! :) (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Deagol ( 323173 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:01PM (#3008546) Homepage
    Surely someone must already have this cable, who would be willing to post the pinouts in a public forum?

    Never having seen a dreamcast, I bet it has a non-standard connector, so a nice pre-fab cable would be better. However, in light of this totally lame event... open pandora's box again.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:08PM (#3008595)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I ordered one of these cables from lik-sang recently and had it shipped via Fed Ex into the U.S. with no problems.

      The pre-fab cable is nice and most of the first home built ones used a dc to neo geo link cable. The neo geo link cable is hard to find anymore but Sega does/did sell a serial cable to connect two dreamcasts together. Using this cable and the link already provided by Psx29 to Marcus Comstedt's site [mc.pp.se] you could make two dc coder cables! There should be no DMCA problems with that! The official sega cables are hard to find but there are third parties who make dc accessories that also offer a clone of the official sega cable.

      Of course if you don't mind a little more permanent solution just attach the wires directly to the pins on the dc's serial port :-)

  • ... but then you'd probably wind up in jail for DMCA Violations anyway.

    So much for innovation and advancement.

  • You'd better not try and import floppy disks (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 3141 ( 468289 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:02PM (#3008553) Homepage
    What difference is there between the function of a Dreamcast Coders' Cable and that of a floppy disk? Both can be used for transferring both legal and illegal material. It seems somewhat wrong that customs should assume that you're going to use something illegally, especially when the primary use is perfectly legal.

    • Re:You'd better not try and import floppy disks (Score:4, Insightful)

      by micromoog ( 206608 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:30PM (#3008750)
      especially when the primary use is perfectly legal

      That's just it - the actual primary use is (assumed to be) copyright violation. The stated purpose in the documentation of the cable is another thing; they're going by the percieved actual usage.

      The assumption is that this legitimate educational purpose is in the extreme minority of cases.

      If the "stated legal usage" were all that mattered, Napster would still be around.

    • Your thought is very interesting. Not particularly new, you have to admit, tho. But still, one has got to keep it in mind that things can't be banned if they have multiple uses.

      A knife can kill. A knife can also harm unintentionaly. But its primary use is preparing food. Now, if you see a 15" knife, in the hands of a frothing racist, that's a different thing. but 99.999% of the time, it is in our hands (implied: we are not frothing racists), preparing food.

      Same with guns. Personaly, i like target practice (paper. not ducks. why kill ducks?). More than that, target practice is much more enjoyable with real weapons [magnumresearch.com]. I'd be an unhappy if i either had to pay thru the nose to get a gun and licence or if i wasn't able at all.

      pretty much like if you ban violent videogames crime rates won't drop, banning cables won't stop pirates. It just gives then more fuel.

      Anyway, just some thoughts...

    • Re:You'd better not try and import floppy disks (Score:5, Insightful)

      by donglekey ( 124433 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:34PM (#3008779) Homepage
      I say who gives a shit about what something's ambiguous primary use is. The act is illegal not materials. If I want to use a bong to try and invent cold fusion I should have the right to.

    • Broken record (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      God I hate to sound redundant but...

      We told you guys this would happen when the idiots started banning guns. "Guns hurt people," the fools would blather. Yes, if you're annoyed by what I'm saying, you're one of the fools who made this mess. Thanks, asshole.

      Oddly enough, crime didn't go down. Rather, it got worse.

      Next it was boxcutters, knives, razors, screwdrivers (had two of those in my PC bag confiscated in Miami last week). Teeny little PC screwdrivers, now regarded as a deadly weapon.

      Yet criminals figure out another way.

      Either we're going to have to put an end to this idiocy and get more of the population supporting the punishment of criminals, not inanimate objects, or we're going to keep going down the slope until the only people that have stuff are the governmental elite and those that can afford to pay them off for the priveledge.

      • Re:Broken record (Score:4, Insightful)

        by HalfFlat ( 121672 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @05:21PM (#3010409)

        er, guns do hurt people. That and hunting are indeed their primary purposes.

        Unsurprisingly there are fewer gun deaths per capita in those democracies where gun use is restricted.

        Gun laws won't stop the sole loony with an illegally owned gun doing the rampage thing. But such loons aren't the ones responsible for the amazingly large number of people who get shot in the US every year.

        However you may feel about gun control, comparing them to a device that may have application in unauthorized copying of software is ludicrous.

  • It's not clear to me, did UPS internally flag this as a customs violation or did the the US Customs Agency do it? Does anyone out there know how this works? If it was US Customs, then it would seem to me that there would have to be an official appeal mechanism in place. However, if UPS did it internally, that would explain why they don't offer an appeal and why they won't give out info on who to contact.

    I had a similar problem with my RoadRunner account a few years ago. The local sysadmin decided that a file I posted to a newsgroup was a copyright violation and cancelled my service. In fact, the file I posted was not copyright protected, but RR refused to hear my appeal and just ignored me.

    • Re:Customs Official or UPS? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by MrResistor ( 120588 ) <peterahoff@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:30PM (#3008752) Homepage
      As much as I hate them, that's exactly what Lawyers are for. Most of the time you don't even have to have one, just the threat of talking to one is usually enough to get their attention and try to work things out with you.

      Also, filing a complaint with your states Better Business Bureu is surprisingly effective, and can usually be done online.

      If you really want to be a dick, sue them in small claims court naming the President, CEO, and local sysadmin as defendents. In CA lawyers aren't allowed in small claims court, and if you don't show up you automatically lose.

      It's probably a little late now to do any of these, but worth filing away for future consideration.

  • No ... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by pb ( 1020 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:05PM (#3008575)
    This is a case of customs intercepting what they perceive to be illegal (mod-chips and whatnot); however, it's disturbing that they don't know or check what the merchandise is, and that they do this under the DMCA, the most far-reaching and untried piece of crappy legislation since the CDA.

    However, it might work to everyone's advantage if you pursue this; I would love to see the DMCA overturned, and I'm sure the EFF would too. Therefore, I'm sure many people would be happy to contribute time, effort, or money if you have a case and can pursue it. (it's hard to sue the gov't; I wonder why ...)

  • What a wonderful world. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by selectspec ( 74651 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:05PM (#3008576)
    They let Richard Reed onto an airplane, but they take away your serial cable.
    • Of course, those are different "theys." The "they" that let Richard Reed on the plane was airline security at the point of departure. Whether he was to be allowed into the country after he landed is up to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. And whether to allow his stuff in, and how much he'll have to pay as a tarriff, is up to Customs, also at the point of entry into the country (rather than the point of departure) who would, presumably, have taken away his Dreamcast serial cable.

  • UPS blocking the appeal? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by achbed ( 97139 ) <sd@achbedELIOT.org minus poet> on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:06PM (#3008580) Homepage Journal
    Can UPS block the appeals process by not giving out the name of the port director? This makes an appeal impossible, because the appeal has to be filed with that person. I would think that UPS could be held liable for something here, since they are essentially blocking a citizen's right to an appeal.

    As for the customs rules mentioned, if it was "piratical" it should be siezed and held by customs, not returned to the sender. Something sounds extremely fishy here.
    • The name of the port director responsible should be available under the Freedom of Information Act [cornell.edu]. Very few government documents cannot be acessed, basically only military secrets and archaeological site reports.
      • The name of the port director responsible should be available under the Freedom of Information Act [cornell.edu]. Very few government documents cannot be acessed, basically only military secrets and archaeological site reports.

        Ronald Reagan effectively repealed these rights under EO12356 [nara.gov].

  • Hrrm... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by bl1st3r ( 464353 )
    Is anything allowed to be researched anymore? Is research even possible without somehow violating DMCA rights of some company? Almost everything is patented/copyrighted, so therefor, any type of reverse engineering would fall under that category... right?

    • Re:Hrrm... (Score:2, Informative)

      by donutello ( 88309 )
      I'll bite.

      Yes, research is allowed. You are free to research any of your own creations. Feel free to investigate the laws of nature. Feel free to experiment to come up with different ways to travel. Feel free to write software, create art in original ways. None of that is illegal.

      Patents have a limited lifetime. Feel free to improve on the methodology employed in the patent or to invent a totally new thing.

      Trying to break into and reverse engineer someone elses invention is not research. Being able to copy and record songs someone else composed and performed is not art or creation.

      Disclaimer: I have no idea what the article is about or whether the serial cable does indeed have a valid legal use or not. I just get annoyed by all the whiners on Slashdot who bitch and moan about their "rights" to other peoples creations.

      • Horse shit! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by 2Bits ( 167227 )
        Ok, I'll bite too.

        The whole four paragraphs in parent are simply horse shit. I can't believe people have been conditioned to the point of accepting whatever politicians which are bought by special interest groups have slapped to them.

        Yes, research is allowed. You are free to research any of your own creations. Feel free to investigate the laws of nature. Feel free to experiment to come up with different ways to travel. Feel free to write software, create art in original ways. None of that is illegal.

        Wake up, man. All researches are based upon previous knowledge and discovery. Imagine if all data structures and algorithms have been patented/copyrighted. Feel free to write software without violating someone's patent. How are you gonna do that? My wife is a Ph.D and working on early cancer detection research, based on some hereditary genes. And guess what, genes and the process of splicing/cutting/purifying/etc are all patented. The whole process of the research violates someone's patents on more than half of the steps required. Even the result analysis process is patented. Go figure.

  • How rediculous (Score:4, Insightful)

    by autopr0n ( 534291 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:06PM (#3008586) Homepage Journal
    btw, there's a k5 story about this [kuro5hin.org] for those who care.

    This seems to be another UPS fuckup... According to the Customs dep, you're supposed to get 90 days to apeal these types of things, but UPS said there was "no way." that anything can be done.

    Asside from that, I think I speak for everyone when I say I find this a little desturbing. I mean, I'm sure Lik Sang has a 'reputation'... but the things are just wires for god sake.
    • I have found UPS customer support to consistently be totally unhelpful about anything thats no on the list of options in front of them. If it's not on that list, then nothing can be done, and the list is REALLY short. They won't even bump you up. I'm considering filing a BBB report - the service is just awful.
      • people who ship critical things internationally on any kind of regular basis know you never use ups or fedex, you use dhl. DHL will get it there no matter what (well not if it would cost a life but pretty damn close).

  • DMCA is slow... (Score:4, Informative)

    by powerlinekid ( 442532 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:07PM (#3008589)
    I mean come on, this is so 2 years ago. They used to use these cables to get dumps of information off the dreamcast so they could copy the games. The current way is to pop the dreamcast g-cd (yamaho propetary format that holds 1 gig a disk, with 35 meg (approx) being readable in a cdrom and the rest unreadable for laser issues) into a dvd drive and download a program/driver that changes the way your dvd drive uses its laser to read the disk. From what I understand the new way, while very dangerous for your drive is a hell of alot faster than the 20+ hours that it used to take to make a dreamcast iso, especially when you're worried about it melting.
    • This new way you describe is a myth. Everyone knows that.. altho some people that aren't so bright have to learn the hardway when they attempt to flash the roms of there cdr and dvd drives and mess them up.
      • Its very possible. The problem with reading the g-cd with a cdrom drive is that the intensity of the laser isn't high enough. However a DVD drive can comfortably go into that range. Basically it works roughly the same as custom cd readers such as ISOBuster, etc that use their own system to read in data from the disks and not do it through the OS.
    • one link, kind of low detail but same idea [google.com]

      heres another from cnet: 2nd link [google.com]

      notice they're about the same group... so yeah i think its possible... practical with the dreamcast being $50? hell no... those babies are awesome... too bad about the lack of games recently though (drop hardware price... people buy more... cut off game supply, games dry up)

  • This was a violation of procedure (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Fair Use Guy ( 556967 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:13PM (#3008629) Homepage Journal
    I recently conferred with an undergrad who was importing some obviously bootlegged software CDs from the Orient onto campus for resale. Customs intercepted a particularly large order at one point and held it on DMCA grounds. Here was the sequence of events:
    • Order was seized and the recipient was notified
    • The recipient was requested to either send the items back, or to sign an affadavit that the items were legal in this country
    • The recipient signed the affadavit and the "affected parties", the publishers who had put the CDs on their Customs block list, had three (3) business days to contest the affadavit
    • The publishers did nothing, and the shipment went through
    The USPS tends to act more in accordance with the proper procedures, and the private shippers tend to discourage them to avoid the trouble and added costs. So if you're going to order something illegal from overseas, the Postal Service is usually the way to go.

    /fug

  • DMCA is supposed to prevent us from circumventing copy controls. Is a serial interface with (I assume) a non-standard plug a legitimate copy-control that deserves federal protections?

  • Cable vs. knife (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BlowCat ( 216402 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:16PM (#3008654)
    Being neighter addict of games nor user of proprietory software, I would normally vote against articles involving so called "piracy" and game machines, but this article raises a very important issue. Should the customs decide which cables are allowed to be imported based on the probability that they will be used illegally? I strongly believe that the notion of "software piracy" is wrong, because the so called "pirates" don't kill or rob anyone - the worst thing they do is depriving artists of some artificial monopoly that the society grants them to stimulate their creativity.

    Banning cables is even worse - it creates a notion of "pirates' tool", something tangible that can be used as a "weapon" by "bad guys" and should be kept out of the country.

    Isn't it strange that I can import a knife but I cannot import a cable?

    • Re:Cable vs. knife (Score:4, Funny)

      by Lonath ( 249354 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @02:07PM (#3008979)
      Isn't it strange that I can import a knife but I cannot import a cable?

      Well, if your priorities weren't so screwed up, you would notice that a knife can only be used to injure or kill a few people before the attacker gets caught. The victims probably won't be rich people, so they really aren't worth that much to the economy and society anyway. OTOH, a cable like this can be used to steal Copyrighted Digital Content, which can then be copied an infinite number of times, thereby causing an infinite loss to the economy.
    • BlowCat writes:
      Banning cables is even worse - it creates a notion of "pirates' tool", something tangible that can be used as a "weapon" by "bad guys" and should be kept out of the country.

      Actually, in the UK, knives are something that can be banned from import -- they even restrict printed magazines that promote 'combat knives' on the basis that they are a tool only for the "bad guys".

      References:

      The one good reference I had on the advertising restrictions was an AOL homepage that has since vanished... you'll have to do the research yourself if you won't take my word on the laws.

  • ... from one in a PC? What I mean is, a serial cable is just a way to interface with a port under a certain specification (in this case a serial protocol). The fact that the Dreamcast has a serial connector indicates that its use is legal.
    Why will anybody put a connector that you are NOT supposed to use??!! So now using the serial cable is illegal... does this make the use of the parallel port in my PC illegal? (If so, I am going to jail because I can't remember how many times I have used it ;)
    Now seriously, the custom office does NOT know how the serial cable is going to be used, so they assumed that it was going to be used the "wrong" way. In that case very soon, custom should stop anybody ordering bricks from China (or somewhere else, for that matter), because killing people is illegal in the USA, and bricks can be used to kill people...

    It is not just the DMCA: it is the whole idea, very popular these days in political talk, that if something can be used for harmful purposes, it needs to be banned inmediately because it will be used in that manner.

  • Am I now of "a piratical nature"? (Score:4, Funny)

    by medcalf ( 68293 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:18PM (#3008672) Homepage
    My six-year old will be thrilled! Arrrh.

  • That explain the postal delay... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jsse ( 254124 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:22PM (#3008701) Homepage Journal
    That'd be totally unrelated to this thread, but it matters to the case so please bear with me.

    I live in Hong Kong and I found unexpected delay in postal services recently(around a year or so, even before 911). I do a lot of mails/packages back and forth US(has a lot of friends in US) and the time it takes seems to be lengthened to at least 2-3 times than normal. My X'mas present to one of my friend in US just arrive yesterday, but I shipped it before X'mas.

    Until you bought it up I noticed that the time it took for computer equipment seems to be taking much longer. A friend of mine who was carrying a box of modems with cables was being strip-searched at the US custom.(he thought it's due to 911, but it's rather unusual to be detained 4 hours...)

    I was wondering, does US customs pick on all packages from and to Hong Kong? I asked several ebay sellers they said it takes unusual long time to delivery goods to me.

    Exactly how many time, money and resource US Government is spending on monitoring citizens' mails?

    Anyone would kindly tell me?

    P.S. to original poster, have you tried UPS, DHL or Fedex? Did they reject your goods like USPS?

  • Make your own coders cable!! (Score:4, Informative)

    by radd0 ( 558899 ) <radman AT acid DOT org> on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:25PM (#3008728) Homepage Journal
    This is complete and utter hogwash. You may not be able to walk in to BestBuy and "hoarde them all" but you can definitely make your own. Marcus Comstedt has a very resourceful Dreamcast Programming site, which also documents how to build the DC to PC serial adapter ("DC coders cable") at: http://mc.pp.se/dc/serifc.html As the victim of this so-called upholding of the DMCA has acknowledged on his own site, the DC broadband adapter would be the way to go, but is a much more expensive route. Happy coding... -r

  • "MPAA representative 'totally shocked'" (Score:5, Funny)

    by Chris Burke ( 6130 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:27PM (#3008732) Homepage
    When MPAA PR representative Ima Weasel was told about this apparent restriction of legitimate educational use of a harmless device in the name of the DMCA, she replied that she was "totally fucking shocked".

    "Seriously," she drawled, "we would have never guessed that, like, someone's rights would be impinged by the DMCA. You know, cus we aren't about that. If we'd have known stuff like this would happen, we'd have never lobbied for the damn law in the first place." Mrs. Weasel apparently had some sort of coughing fit, but when she recovered, she added in a strained voice: "Because you know, the MPAA is about protecting the people's rights. We would never get in the way of something like that knowingly, even if it meant making less money. Because... We love our customers!"

    At this point she let out a cackle like the witch from Loony Toons, and rode off on her broom. One of her aides informed the interviewer that the MPAA had no further comments on the issue.
  • CmdrTaco you just proposed and she said YES!!! What are you doing still at work?!? Go out and party!!!!!!

  • Does anyone else wonder... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rnturn ( 11092 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:28PM (#3008745)

    ...why, with so many other, more important things to be worrying about, the customs officials are watching for serial cables? Ever hear of priorities, Mr. Customs Man?

    Jeez...

  • I worked at Sega... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by The Vulture ( 248871 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:30PM (#3008755) Homepage
    ...for John Byrd actually, up until February 2001, when Sega of Japan dropped the axe on the Sega of America Third-Party Developer Technical Support (DTS). I have contacted him about this article, and maybe he can say a few words (however, he does not work for Sega anymore, so I don't know what effect his words will have).

    Truth be told, when we were at Sega, we were following the amateur programmers, and we knew that there was no way that we could stop them (not that the youthful hackers in us really wanted to). I don't know if this will help you any, but Sega of America actually ran a mailing list at one time for amateur VMU (Visual Memory Unit) programmers - this may be useful in establishing some credibility that Sega was encouraging development. Of course, then again, there was usually a difference between what SOA and SOJ wanted. :(

    Although I do not know where the links are for making the cables, it is possible to do so (and I believe that somebody else pasted the link). The only catch is finding the Dreamcast serial port side. Rather than ordering from Hong Kong, you might want to see if you can find the Japanese ISDN cable, which is the real version of the cable you are looking for (I have one at home). I don't remember the part number, but I can look it up tonight. That and a null-modem adaptor, and you're in business.

    Absolutely rediculous what is going on. I wonder when my homeland of Canada will begin to follow suit. :(

    Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, and not Sega of America, Sega of Japan, John Byrd, or any other current or former Sega employee.

    -- Joe
  • It is terrible to see this effect from the DMCA. Basically it is destroying technical education in the US. Long term this could be a very bad thing and just turn the US into a nation of consumers and not producers, which will eventually destroy the market that the DMCA backers are trying to protect.

    Or I could be totally wrong.
    • It is terrible to see this effect from the DMCA. Basically it is destroying technical education in the US. Long term this could be a very bad thing and just turn the US into a nation of consumers and not producers,

      You are absolutely, 100% correct up to this point, and indeed make an excellent point too many people overlook.

      However:

      which will eventually destroy the market that the DMCA backers are trying to protect.

      Or I could be totally wrong.

      Yes, and here's why:

      The DMCA backers have absolutely no interest in protecting the computer industry, or indeed any of the markets which will be destroyed by the DMCA over the next five or ten years. Indeed, they could really care less (and in some cases would welcome such destruction, particularly of the internet and computer-related products that allow such easy, and to them unwholesom, copying).

      They are solely interested in protecting our Bread and Circuses, in particular the Media and Copyright Cartels that have diluted and dumbed down our once-rich culture into mass-disseminated least-common-denominator pop.

      If you will recall from your history, the Bread and Circuses industry can survive, even thrive in an economy which has otherwise completely imploded, and will generally continue to do so until the entire civilization falls and is destroyed. I refer you to the last centuries of the Roman Empire as an historical example (by no means unique, but certainly the most widely known example of this), when leaders would choose to use their distribution networks (ships) to ship sand rather than desperately needed food or other goods, for the sake of the games.

      The DMCA was designed to protect the entrenched media interests by outlawing much of basic science and engineering, and indeed much of the technology, integral to continuing the "information revolution." They know this, we know this, and they just don't care, so long as their business models are protected. Indeed, as things get worse people are likely to seek more escape, not less, so they can reasonably expect to see their profits soar as a result.

  • Lik Sang (Score:5, Informative)

    by alech ( 208219 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @01:43PM (#3008832) Homepage
    From what I've read on the dcdev mailinglist [yahoo.com], this rather seems to be a problem with Lik Sang [lik-sang.com], then with the cable itself.

    Lik Sang stopped selling modchips to the US, Canada, Mexico and "other Latin american countries" as well...

    So, for me it seems it is rather a problem of customs vs. Lik-Sang then a DMCA problem...

    Quoting a mail from John Goggan which just arrived on the dcdev mailinglist:

    Just so people know, here is the situation with Lik-Sang... Customs recently started checking ALL of Lik-Sang's shipments to the US (under the guise of trying to stop any NEO4s from coming in -- even though Lik-Sang immediately stopped shipping them when they were announced as being against the DMCA). They were denying coder's cables, gameboy wormlights, everything. Basically, it looks like they were too lazy to hand-check the packages and just refused almost all of them going from Lik-Sang into the US via UPS. They also did not inform Lik-Sang of this until 3 days after they started denying them -- so a bunch were refused without Lik-Sang's knowledge. They heard from an engineer in the US that was waiting for a USB connector sample from Lik-Sang that tried to call customs and explain that they parcel they had stopped had nothing to do with the DMCA. They told him that they are "CERTAIN that they know what kinds of goods that Lik-Sang are shipping." Bah. Idiots. Note that Lik-Sang has STILL not received their packages BACK yet. In any case, Lik-Sang has now worked out their issues with UPS and will begin shipping with them again very soon. Basically, it looks like UPS is doing all they can to help Lik-Sang get around custom's evil tactics now. heh. They have changed to EMS Speedpost temporarily for shipments to the USA, but said that UPS will be back as their primary shipping method for the USA by the end of the month (note that some of that delay is due to Lik-Sang moving to a new warehouse in HK -- not just the customs issues). Just wanted to clear that up. Some guys at Lik-Sang are friends of mine, so I asked them what was up -- and passed it along to you all.
  • I thought that one of the perks of living in the U.S.A. was that they didn't open all your mail, like in the Soviet Union or China. At least, that's what I was taught in grammar school.

    Or was that never true of international mail? Exactly what can or can't they open? Is domestic mail safe? Do they need a warrant?

    • Re:Privacy of the Mail? (Score:2, Informative)

      by nagora ( 177841 )
      All international mail in and out of the US has been opened for at least thirty years. All international calls have been monitored for at least 15 years, probably more.

      Most countries reserve the right to open international mail as a matter of routine to check for duty-payable goods such as artwork etc.

      TWW

  • Engaged (Score:4, Funny)

    by isorox ( 205688 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @02:07PM (#3008980) Homepage Journal
    Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 14, @12:54PM

    Dude, you just got engaged 3 hours ago, WTF are you doing posting stories about cables when you should be pluging yourself in?

  • DMCA (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Oriumpor ( 446718 )
    Well... I wonder when this injunction started... I just got a couple of things I ordered from liksang Express mail... and they just got here today... (Although some of the items could be questioned under the DMCA I don't see why they would hold something as silly as a PS2 controller converter... etc..etc..etc..)

    -
    98% of responses yesterday:
    Blah Blah Blah DMCA Sucks
    Blah Blah Blah .NET Sucks
    BLAH BLAH BLAH MICROSOFT BLOWS!

  • I wonder how effective it woould be for people to start filing suits against companies or the US Government for atempting to enforce the DMCA. Especially in a case like this where he can prove this is for research and he can prove harm. Name Ashcroft or the Head of US Customs as the defendent. Since no lawyers are allowed, what are the chances of either of these two men actually showing up. Especially since Ashcroft is so busy spear heading the War on Freedom. For that matter what are the chances of Jack Valenti showing up in Small Claims Court. I realize no legal presedents can be set, but maybe we can make them pay, even if its in a small way.

  • Paranoid (Score:5, Funny)

    by DeadBugs ( 546475 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @02:27PM (#3009154) Homepage
    I was reading the DMCA and got worried that by reading it I was copying it into my memory, which may be a violation of the DMCA. I quickly started drinking to erase the memory
  • to see if you can get your universtity motivated to help you in the case.
    You'll probably need lawyers.
    An enilight universtity would see the impact this can have on it as an eduactional value. Sure, its one serial cable today, but what about disks? blank media? this is the tip of the iceburg.

  • "educational use" = piracy (Score:3, Funny)

    by Dr. Awktagon ( 233360 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @02:41PM (#3009231) Homepage

    Yeah, we all know what this guy was going to do. If he wasn't going to pirate games and deprive Sony of their earned income, then he was probably going to "hack" the console, and we all know hacking is illegal.

    As part of the lab, we are intending on using the Sega Dreamcast console as a real-time system; we'll be writing a scheduler for it and some simple games.

    Man, an entire class devoted to stealing other people's work? I think it's time for a TOP TO BOTTOM review of our educational system, and we need to route out these thieves pretending to be teachers. Put them behind bars I say!

    The Dreamcast isn't even mine; it's my roommate's.

    Sure, steal from Sony, steal from your roommate, steal from old ladies, steal from your Church, what's the difference?

    Looks to me like the DMCA was working just fine, and stopped another potential criminal from commiting a crime. Does this guy really think he's smarter than Congress, who knew exactly what they were doing when passing this law?

    (Note this post is a JOKE. And a bad one at that. :-) Move along.)

  • What I would do (Score:5, Informative)

    by MrResistor ( 120588 ) <peterahoff@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Thursday February 14, 2002 @02:50PM (#3009279) Homepage
    First order of business is to file complaints with as many government agencies as possible. Basically, make yourself a huge pain in the ass. File complaints with the FTC against UPS and US Customs, as they are clearly obstructing your 5th Amendment right to Due Process by refusing to provide information necessary to appeal the decision. While you are not being accused of a crime directly, you are certainly being deprived of property (and perhaps liberty, depending on the legal definition) without the opportunity to contest that decision (due process). Be sure to file a complaint against UPS with your local BBB alo, as well as any other agency with any power to regulate trade and business practices. Like I said, make yourself as bigg of a pain in the ass as you can. The squeeky wheel gets the grease.

    Next, talk to a Lawyer about forcing UPS to provide that information, and perhaps persuing other avenues of compensation for their negligence. Also, discuss the possibility of bringing suit against US Customs contesting their misapplication of the DMCA. Obviously, you want to start by talking to folks with deeper pockets than your own who might take an interest in the matter, such as the EFF and your schools legal department. (I did see the EFF mentioned, but not UMNs stance. UMN is probably more likely to get directly involved than the EFF, since this directly effects the quality of education they are able to offer their students and the research they are able to do.)

    Anyway, that's what I would do.

  • If I were to use a magnifing glass to read an authors text that was intentionally writen too small for me to see, would that be considered using the magnafing glass as a circumvention device? The answer is yes, technically it would be circumvention.

  • America is _not_ the land of the free (Score:3, Insightful)

    by t_allardyce ( 48447 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @03:27PM (#3009569) Journal
    How the hell can you call your country the land of the free when your not even allowed to import a piece of wire. And no, don't give me any bull shit stories of IP protection. It is a bit of wire, with at the most a couple of components soldered on. Its not a nuke, a vile of anthrax or cuban cigars (Why the _hell_ are these banned in a free country???) its just metal, and plastic. Ok, maybe you could strangle someone with it - but for crists sake, you let 12 year olds by automatic weapons. ROFL serves you all right.

  • UPDATE (Score:3, Informative)

    by Falkkin ( 97268 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @03:48PM (#3009704) Homepage
    I don't have time to individually respond to any of the posts here, but I'll be posting periodic updates on my web page. There are a couple up now (I have more info on why my package was stopped from HK; apparently *all* packages from lik-sang.com shipped in the last week or so have been detained...) and I'll be adding more as I get more info -- I've been rather inundated with e-mails in the last couple hours. :) Thanks to everyone here for your support; I'm hoping we can get this issue resolved soon.


    Colin McMillen

  • eBay hates them too! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by TheLocustNMI ( 159898 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @04:16PM (#3009935) Homepage
    I know for a fact, because i was attempting to sell my DC with the cable, and they came back with a "illegal materials" notice, so i took off a note I had about some copied games on the auction listing -- thinking that was what they were after! So, i reposted, with the cable still on it, and they canned my account! I had no idea you could copy games with it! Oh well -- so they are getting a bum rap, methinks...

  • Thank you DMCA! (Score:3, Funny)

    by hengist ( 71116 ) on Thursday February 14, 2002 @06:46PM (#3010984)
    (begin irony)
    As a New Zealander, I now officially love the DMCA! For years we New Zealanders have tried to compete with the USA's technical dominance. Now, we don't have to worry! The USA is destroying it's own technical dominance, and we don't have to do a thing to make it happen! Woohoo!
    (end irony)

    This law courtesy of the US Congress®, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Disney® Corporation.

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