i hope this is the correct place to post this..if it's not...mods please move my topic..i'm deeply apologize for the mistake.. =)


well i shall be heading off to either uk or ireland for uni... last weekend i went to a pre departure briefing and the lady there who was giving the briefing was giving a lil reminder on how the customs at the uk are quite particular on copyright issues...she told us to not bring any pirated stuff..even backups we burn out should not be brought..she advised us to empty our laptops/ipods/etc of whatever illegal stuff we have to be on the safe side..

now i was just wondering .. wouldn't the customs use the time they have to check for threats/drugs/bombs and watever else that's a greater threat to the country than to check if the songs and vids in your ipod is of legal attainment or not? and there're probably loads to go through if they really want to check..and it shall take a lot of time per passenger i assume...i understand if some cuatoms insist on booting the laptop and stuff just to check it's a laptop and doesn't blow up.. and swab it for drug residue or to see if you've got porn or watever else inappropriate things there...but surely they won't do such detailed checks till to question the copyright?

i intended to bring along my laptop and ipod and 2 external harddrives..in it contains the normal stuff i would say..songs..albums..videos..dramas..movies...my OS and all that are legal though....

i would like to have some peace of mind on this issue..so please share your customs experience here...

thanks loads!

I haven't been to UK. But I have traveled extensively with my laptops and I have yet to see any customs people check the content of your computer for pirated stuff.

I wouldn't worry about it unless you have a suitcase full of pirated cd. All they do is to ask you to see if the device boots or not. Sometime with the new equipments, you don't even have to turn it on.

I haven't been to UK. But I have traveled extensively with my laptops and I have yet to see any customs people check the content of your computer for pirated stuff.

I wouldn't worry about it unless you have a suitcase full of pirated cd. All they do is to ask you to see if the device boots or not. Sometime with the new equipments, you don't even have to turn it on.

my advice check the website for the country's customs rules

Yupz...do check the website of the country's customs rules.

Usually customs perform sampling checks...and if you look suspicious then most likely u'll be haul up for checks for cigarettes, alcohol and all other taxable items...

As for laptops...hmmm i've never seen a case where they'll ask me to turn on my laptop

I traveled a lot too, and I never got check like that.

im from the uk - i would say a no no to pirated cds but otherwise i feel comfortable bringing stuff back to the uk on my laptop etc. Do check the website, but i dont think the staff are too bothered with checking.

I have been to the UK many times carrying my laptop with me but never once did they ask me to on it to check for pirated stuffs. I think it is too much of a hassle to ask you to switch on your laptop unless you are a suspected terrorist.

thanks guys for all the feedback it really gives me a greater peace of mind... i shall be bringing precious music movies and dramas on my laptop and also on an external hard disk..shudn't be a prob getting thru huh..