[Upd-discuss] IP Pursued by Patriot Act?

[James Davis]

Michael Hart wrote:

> Yes, there have been other cases as well of use of the PATRIOT Act to
> pursue copyright infringement. In theory, anything that affects the
> economy could be called a national security issue, but what is
> significant is that it is so far only intellectual property that has
> been singled out for this special protection.

I seem to recall that the particulars of this case are slightly more 
subtle, the "Magic Cubes" were thought to be imported counterfeit 
Rubik's Cubes which is why US Customs were involved. US Customs is now 
part of the the Department of Homeland Security but I don't see how the 
Patriot Act was involved here at all.

The whole business appears to have been a mistake, the trademarks and 
patents covering the Rubik's Cube (as far as I can tell) have expired 
and Pufferbelly Toys still sell Magic Cubes so I presume that everything 
was eventually resolved. This isn't interesting news unless you 
subscribe to the common perception that the DHS's only duty is to 
protect the US from terrorists. You could argue that the officials 
should have checked the facts first, but we've seen this happen before 
and will see it happen again.

James