It seems that squidgate has drawn to a close - as of 1204 hours yesterday Peter Watts will not be getting any jail time. As confirmed on the St. Clair County Court Docket (search on case 09-003320-FH and click on 'Events') his jail term was suspended upon payment of court costs and fines ($68us state minimum; $60 crime victim costs; $1000us court costs, and a $500us fine) for violation of Michigan state law 750.81d (in essence, distracting a duly appointed law enforcement officer carrying out his or her duties, but it's a bit more involved than that). He'll have to …

I've been silently waiting for word to appear on the Net about the sentencing of Dr. Peter Watts, which is schedule for tomorrow in Port Huron. To recap the highlights of squidgate, Dr. Watts was found guilty of obstructing law enforcement officers carrying out their legally appointed duties by asking them what was going on.

You really can't say anything more than that, though lots of people have already. Cutting to the chase, Dr. Watts is probably on his way back across the border into Michigan as I write this to appear in court tomorrow. The prosecution was pushing for …

It seems that Squidgate has finally drawn to a close and now all that remains is to pack the pieces back into their respective slots, fold up the game board, and find out what sentence will be given to Dr. Watts. As has been repeated time and again around the Net (with varying signal/noise ratios), he was convicted of obstructing US border guards. Not attacking or making any threatening movements toward them, as the agents originally claimed. Obstructing them. The jury eventually decided in favor of the prosecution because, by the letter of the law (good luck finding it …

For a couple of years now the Customs and Border Patrol of the United States has had the legal authority to confiscate the laptops of people entering the country to perform forensic analysis on an indefinite basis. If you don't give them your laptop (or you refuse to give them the passphrases to decrypt your data) they can and will send you back or incarcerate you, even if you're an American citizen. They also have standing orders to seize any and all data storage media you're transporting (including USB keys, cameras, cellular phones, MP3 players, and disks) for duplication and …