Posted on 10/31/2004 7:20:49 AM PST by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
ST. HELENS, Ore. - So far as she knows, Pufferbelly Toys owner Stephanie Cox hasn't been passing any state secrets to sinister foreign governments, or violating obscure clauses in the Patriot Act.
So she was taken aback by a mysterious phone call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to her small store in this quiet Columbia River town just north of Portland.
"I was shaking in my shoes," Cox said of the September phone call. "My first thought was the government can shut your business down on a whim, in my opinion. If I'm closed even for a day that would cause undue stress."
When the two agents arrived at the store, the lead agent asked Cox whether she carried a toy called the Magic Cube, which he said was an illegal copy of the Rubik's Cube, one of the most popular toys of all time.
He told her to remove the Magic Cube from her shelves, and he watched to make sure she complied.
After the agents left, Cox called the manufacturer of the Magic Cube, the Toysmith Group, which is based in Auburn, Wash. A representative told her that Rubik's Cube patent had expired, and the Magic Cube did not infringe on the rival toy's trademark.
Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said agents went to Pufferbelly based on a trademark infringement complaint filed in the agency's intellectual property rights center in Washington, D.C.
"One of the things that our agency's responsible for doing is protecting the integrity of the economy and our nation's financial systems and obviously trademark infringement does have significant economic implications," she said.
Six weeks after her brush with Homeland Security, Cox told The Oregonian she is still bewildered by the experience.
"Aren't there any terrorists out there?" she said.
Trademark infringement is a potential homeland security issue, since much of the terrorists' money comes from counterfeit products.
If agents of Homeland Security made this visit, then one can only infer that no nation is safe so long as copycat Rubik's Cubes sit on toystore shelves. Anywhere.
Like there's anybody in oregon/washington that isn't an AlQaueda lover!
We should believe this tall tale?
Until I recently retired, I had a Homeland Security ID as well, even though I had essentially nothing to do with terrorism and security. I was involved in a medical field. Homeland security employees cover a range of services - not all involve terrorism.
What incredible hyperbole. If you are doing nothing wrong why feel distessed? Maybe she deserves a closer look.....
Customs enforcement comes under Homeland Security. Life goes on; not everyone can fight terrorism 24/7; some companies still have to fight counterfeiting of their products.
Maybe this lady is an ideal candidate for joining the Libertarian Party...she now realizes the government can arbitrarily shut down your business and livelihood on a whim.
Odd question...She was doing NOTHING wrong and the brownshirts came in without a summons or search warrant and forced her to do something that she legally didn't have to...
What if she had refused??? Shoot her??? Yer all for that idea, eh??? Some of you people are scarier than Kerry...
What if she had refused??? Shoot her???
Those people who wave the alarmist shibboleth of Nazi Germany where it is not warranted, as well as those who bring up the spectre of people allegedly being shot for simple non-compliance with a law enforcement request, scare me about as much as Kerry does. This is because Kerry at least doesn't call himself a "conservative".
People who scream "nazi" every time somebody with a badge does something they don't like make FreeRepublic look like a nest of kooks.
If you looik at the way Homeland Security is set up they don't all hunt terrorists. RELAX someone filed a patent complaint and they are required to cover it.
I agree with your post, and I am completely relaxed. It is the original poster to whom I was responding who needs the relaxation regimen.
You're the one defending this formerly un-American prodedure...You know the old saying, 'if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and smells like a duck, well there you go...
The gov't won't protect the borders even when 80% of American citizens (Mexican and Orientals included) tell them to...But yet they will raid a toy store???
And when they don't even have to be right, all they need is to have a badge, yer dog gone right we don't like it...And we won't defend it...
No, I was chastizing you for being an alarmist and being wrong about it to boot. Law enforcement conducting an investigation of an alleged trademark infringement case hardly qualifies as "un-American". Nobody was shot and nobody was dragged off to a concentration camp here.
I think it is un-American and stupid to wildly scream "nazi" every time law enforcement interviews a person. Kindly save the breathless "nazi" hyperbole for the real article.
The gov't won't protect the borders even when 80% of American citizens (Mexican and Orientals included) tell them to...But yet they will raid a toy store???
I was wondering when you were going to play the "protect the borders" card. What does "protecting the borders" have to do with this situation? Free clue: nothing. So, if you want to rant about "protecting the borders", find a thread that deals with that subject; you can rant to your heart's content there.
And when they don't even have to be right, all they need is to have a badge
I have no idea what you are talking about here. Seriously, you should stick to decaf.
is does seem rather foolish of federal agents to turn up to a toy store in defence of a patent that is no longer valid, you'd think that they could of made even the most cursory checks to see if the central allegation had any possibility of being true.
and if it is an urban legend, it does seem alarming that so many gave it credence - perhaps that says more about the state of freedom in the US than the story.
When was the investigation???
He told her to remove the Magic Cube from her shelves, and he watched to make sure she complied.
There was no investigation...
After the agents left, Cox called the manufacturer of the Magic Cube, the Toysmith Group, which is based in Auburn, Wash. A representative told her that Rubik's Cube patent had expired, and the Magic Cube did not infringe on the rival toy's trademark.
So the lady did nothing wrong...The toys on the shelf were legal...And I said, And when they don't even have to be right, all they need is to have a badge...
And you say, I have no idea what you are talking about here. Seriously, you should stick to decaf.
This is getting tiresome...RE-read the story...Here's a summary in case you don't...
The bad guys come into the store because they got a tip the lady was selling illegal toys...They were not illegal toys but the brownshirts didn't bother to investigate...They told her to remove the toys while they waited (or what?)...She complied...She investigated and found that the toys were in fact, legitimate...But that's ok...Because it's the gov't...Sorry, I won't defend them, but you go right ahead...
It probably started long before law enforcement showed up at her store.
He told her to remove the Magic Cube from her shelves, and he watched to make sure she complied. There was no investigation...
Yes, there was. Obviously.
So the lady did nothing wrong...
Nobody said she did. And your erroneously intimating that they showed up with guns drawn and wearing brown shirts is not helpful to the discussion.
This is getting tiresome
Yes, it is. I am getting tired of you being so wrong and so alarmist about it.
Here's a summary in case you don't...The bad guys come into the store because they got a tip the lady was selling illegal toys
All I really needed to know about you is bolded in the above sentences. You simply hate all law enforcement and consider all of them to be nazis. Thank you for tipping your hand and making it easy not to take you seriously ever again.
Isn't "no longer valid" for a judge and jury to decide?
you'd think that they could of made even the most cursory checks to see if the central allegation had any possibility of being true.
They did. That's what we have a legal system for. The ridiculous part is where so many Freepers simply assume that law enforcement is wrong, powered by nothing more than something they read on the Internet.
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