[Infowarrior] - Blackhat '07 speaker denied entry to US

[Richard Forno]

I've been denied entry to the US essentially for carrying my trainings
material. Wow.

It appears I can't attend Blackhat this year. I was denied entry to the US
for carrying trainings materials for the Blackhat trainings, and intending
to hold these trainings as a private citizen instead of as a company.

After a 9-hour flight and a 4 1/2 hour interview I was put onto the next
9-hour flight back to Germany. Future trips to the US will be significantly
more complicated as I can no longer go to the US on the visa waiver program.

A little background: For the last 7 years, I have attended / presented at
the 'Blackhat Briefings', a security conference in the US. Prior to the
conference itself, Blackhat conducts a trainings session, and for the past 6
years, I have given two days of trainings at these events. The largest part
of the attendees of the trainings are US-Government related folks, mostly
working on US National Security in some form. I have trained people from the
DoD, DoE, DHS and most other agencies that come to mind.

Each time I came to the US, I told immigration that I was coming to the US
to present at a conference and hold a trainings class. I was never stopped
before.

This time, I had printed the materials for the trainings class in Germany
and put them into my suitcase. Upon arrival in the US, I passed immigration,
but was stopped in customs. My suitcase was searched, and I was asked about
the trainings materials.

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