Are laptops thoroughly checked for piracy???(at us airports)

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MAGNeT

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my frnd jus came frm us..........i told him to bring a laptop for me which he had earliered offered me a good config at compartively low price........

now the thing is he didnt got it...........i asked the reason he told.......actually there was a guy in us who used to deal in grey stuff...and was ready to give him 200gb hdd one with all damn features and all.....for jus 500$(ofcourse the guy sells stolen materials).......nyways i didnt had idea abt that stuff.......now his parents when came to know he is getting this stuff..they strictly said no.......so he left it.....

now he also bought 1 lappy in usa(genuinely through a dealer).......now he said while he was on airport......the guys(customs i guess) took his lappy ..........windows genuine cd key was mentioned at the bottom of his lappy.....they checked that......it was of the dealer through which he got the lappy........and the guys over there confirmed it..........so his lappy was safe.....and was handed bak to them
now he is telling me he got saved......becoz if he had bought stolen lappy..he would have been in danger.....(which i too agree)....

but now my question is..i bought a system here in india.......i dont have the original cds and all.......also i got the genuine advantage stuff bypass....(using some crack)......now becoz of some stuff i go to us.......suppose i m not checked.....now while returning ....they check me.....can they press charges against me........also wht if u say u got it through dealer in india........
 
Well they checks for key just tell them i have linux installed. and better get linux installed in ur system.
i really dont know if they checks and confirms calling the dealer or w.e..
some other ppl might tell u in this.
 
Don't worry about it. The simple thing to do is to put a password on your computer. End of story. They just wanted to check whether the laptop was his. They cannot search the harddrive contents, I think that is a violation of US law.
 
they cant do anything officially.

They will first have to get warrant from court to search the content of the hard disk and in the US there are strict laws regarding privacy.

Its not their job to catch the illegal software installed on Personal computer and they are not allowed by the law to do the same.

I have moved through 4 international airports with laptop and never once i was asked to show whats on my HDD.
 
LOL...No dude...do not worry at all...all that they want to do at the port of exit is verify that you are indeed carrying a lappy and not something that jeopardises the safety of fellow passengers.......0.000001% chance that they'll ask you to verify the HDD contents at the port of exit.....in fact the US homeland security guys ae so lax abt the port of exit security that i have gone out for a smoke even after my I94 has been removed from my passport....(very illegal theoretically)
 
naaah....my dad takes his laptop everywhere he goes and never has he been asken to even open it....

They just open the zip, have a look at the laptop, open the other compartments, see all the papers and give it back...
 
lol.. in that case every 2nd person who carrys a laptop @ the airport would be behind bars for some pirated software/game on his hdd...
 
Sometimes they ask you to turn the laptop on just to check that it is indeed a laptop and not something in disguise. But never seen anybody checking the contents of a laptop.

I don't think checking IPR related piracy is the mandate/duty of the customs authority.
 
actually i m not concern abt other company s/w..........i was strictly concern abt windows stuff.......also........r there any particular marks on lappy...lik serial number of disc..which can b used as identification marks.....????

also i would lik to mak clear not the contents of his drive was checked........but the os he is using is genuine windows xp...........that was verified ......
 
Nope they cant even do that.

Acer is known to ship its laptops with Linux. There are plenty of ibooks. These dont ship with windows. THey cant take any objection and tell you to start the computer if you dont have that sticker behind the laptop.

Just put the bootup password and they cant force you to put the pass to start the laptop. Its illegal on their part.

If your friend had taken objection they would have had to drop it right there.

This is first time i have even heard about such thing happening.
 
magnet said:
actually i m not concern abt other company s/w..........i was strictly concern abt windows stuff.......also........r there any particular marks on lappy...lik serial number of disc..which can b used as identification marks.....????

also i would lik to mak clear not the contents of his drive was checked........but the os he is using is genuine windows xp...........that was verified ......
Click to expand...
Your "friend" is bs'ing you. All they care for is that there are no bombs disguised as laptops. Pirated software is the last of their worries lol.

@Nikhil: There is no question of opening zips to examine laptops. All computers must be kept outside of your hand baggage during the security check. Its a requirement.
 
@Chaos ---- I am not talking abt US in particular. My dad hasnt visited US for quite some time..... I think the last time he went was in 2001 or something...

But everywhere else he goes, he has not had to remove the lappy from the bag. IT goes through the X-Ray machine and then after the security check, just before we board the aircraft, some people manually check our handbags....
 
ive been to a couple of places with my lappy but not US . Never asked anything about the laptop or its contents . So many times didnt even bother to get it security checked , they dont bother too.

Hearing this for the 1st time ... at stormblast said , sounds like your friend didnt want to bring it .
 
whtever may b the reason.......also i knew he wont bring it...........nyways........i asked details frm him and he told........not only us..but also on paris airport where he was a transit passenger there also they were asking for bills and asking frm where u bought the lappy and all bs.................
i now jus want to confirm this stuff frm a muslim.......becoz that person to is muslim......i jus guess he was bulleyed......

actually i was thinking to made a trip to us in 2-3 yrs time.....ofcourse with a lappy frm here......so the concern is frm my side......as i dont buy all those original windows stuff.......and mainly have crack stuffs
 
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