Laptops Open for Inspection

I'm wondering how the ruling that laptops, even those owned by American citizens returning from foreign travel, can be seized, kept indefinitely, and inspected or even copied, squares with the fourth amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

A laptop computer is essentially a large filing cabinet and many people keep their financial records, personal communications, business data, entertainment, etc.. on thier computers. The "papers" referenced in the fourth amendment are now digital files, and of course the government does not recognize this. This ruling also applies to iPods, phones, and basically anything with digital memory.

The Last Mile

There's little doubt (in my mind anyway) that the best model for connectivity to the home is for the homeowner to own either directly or though his local municipal government, the "last mile" - the connection from the house to a neighborhood aggregation point. The current scheme which has the link to the home being owned by the phone company or cable company cuts the competition significantly for your communications dollar and locks you into limited options. Imagine having a fiber or high speed copper connection connected into a central point that allows connection to a smorgasboard of telephone, cable, and internet options, all competing for your business.

ars technica has an interesting article up on this about just such a project in Ottawa. It will be met with resistance from the established corporations and it'll be interesting to see if that resistance can be overcome.