[palmer]

The explanation that I read (from TSA or DHS, I forgot) was essentially that the internet does not exist, therefore all devices capable of transporting data must be inspected at the border.

[lafroste]

A real criminal could easily circumvent this. For example he could download the entire contents of his laptop to a server farm (think "Carbonite"), wipe the disc and reload the basic OS and let them inspect it. Once here he could do a backup restore and voila! he's got his allegedly illegal data back.

Like gun laws banning "assault" weapons, the gov't harasses the law abiding while the crooks just dance around the law.