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The Washington Post reported yesterday on allegations that US Customs agents have inspected and confiscated laptop computers, iPods, and mobile phones during passenger inspections. Passengers claim they were asked to provide passwords and open files. In some cases, mobile phones were inspected and returned with purged call logs. One person claims their laptop has been held for an over a year.

According to this article, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Asian Law Caucus have filed a civil lawsuit against the Federal Government, based on 20 complaints from Northern California residents. The goal is disclosure of the US government’s boder search policies. One sourse of concern is an apparent pattern of racial profiling, in which agents targeted Asian and Muslim passengers.

The US Department of Justice asserts that electronic equipment falls into the same category as a briefcase, and may be searched and confiscated for inspection.

However, the scenarios described in this article sound more like coercion or out-and-out robbery.

Of course, many corporate travelers have confidential or private information on their computers and phones. The Post article cites a Canadian law firm that sends corporate travelers headed to the United States with “empty hard drives”. There’s an operating system and a web browser on the laptop, of course, but employees access their email and documents through a secure Internet connection such as a virtual private network (VPN). This helps keep confidential data off the drive, as the law firm fears discovery by search more than a hacked Internet connection.

BoingBoing and the Consumerist each had articles about the Post report, although both blogs misidentified US Customs as the TSA.

Sadly, the activities alleged in this lawsuit do not surprise me. BusinessWeek recently reported on Indian IT outsourcing firms that have systematically underpaid IT workers who were brought to the United States on H1-B visas. These workers make tempting targets, as their outsourcing companies can send the workers back home for any reason. By the time some workers determined they would never get their back-pay, they were no longer in the US. It seems that only a few lawyers or client companies will step in to help these guest workers.

Rob Pegoraro announced this morning that his newspaper, the Washington Post, will replace the Fast Forward newsletter with a blog called Faster Forward.

Fast Forward was started as an e-mail newsletter in 1995. The Post’s mail system couldn’t support a mailing list, so the writers used an external e-mail address.

The article about the blog also includes a brief discussion of RSS, which the Post is using on its web sites. See my earlier posts on http://billso.com/2007/01/23/whats-all-this/ and http://billso.com/2006/09/23/what-is-rss-2/

USA: Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert claims that George Soros is a drug kingpin. Groan. Hastert actually made this claim on Fox News Sunday, and Chris Wallace almost did a spit take.

Chris Wallace: "Excuse me?" The Speaker went on: "Well, that's what he's been for a number years - George Soros has been for legalizing drugs in this country. So, I mean, he's got a lot of ancillary interests out there." Wallace: "You think he may be getting money from the drug cartel?" Hastert: "I'm saying I don't know where groups - could be people who support this type of thing. I'm saying we don't know."

The GOP is getting desperate, as Soros has contributed millions to anti-W 527s. Yes, the same 527s that W denounced last week - and remember, W wants 527s banned.

If the Democrats wanted to follow Hastert's fine example, one might as well say "W could have been anywhere while serving in the Guard. He could have been up to his eyeballs in booze, or coked out of his mind. So, I mean, he shouldn't have been looking at a jet fighter, let alone flying one. I'm saying we don't know." As this blog is fair and balanced, we won't make such an outrageous claim - we'll just direct you to the documentation. Thanks Calpundit and Boing Boing.

USA: John McCain has finally convinced W take legal action against the Swifties and other groups. Of course, most of the top 527s are working for Kerry and against W. The Republicans are kicking themselves because they missed an opportunity to get even more campaign money, and will now sue 527s to hurt Kerry’s chances.

Kerry is pressing his argument that the GOP is conducting a smear campaign. This could help derail W’s momentum. It could also alienate young people who don’t remember Vietnam, and undecided voters who care about real issues.

Meanwhile, the W campaign has ignored the IOC’s request to pull an ad that mentions the Olympics. The W campaign never asked the International Olympic Committee for permission to run an ad that violates US law: “An act of Congress, last revised in 1999, grants the USOC exclusive rights to such terms as “Olympic,” derivatives such as “Olympiad” and the five interlocking rings. It also specifically says the organization “shall be nonpolitical and may not promote the candidacy of an individual seeking public office.”“