# What am I not allowed to read in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409 "2010-06-08T11:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/41 "2010-06-08T21:14:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Not that I’m aware of. That’s why I said ‘technically’. > Interesting question. If the actual company that made the cigars fled the country with a supply of seeds and employees who knew how to grow tobacco, are those the ‘real Havanas’ even though the tobacco is grown in Honduras or The Dominican Replublic? Or are the ones that only have the ‘name’ but are actually made in Havana the ‘real Havanas’? Aren’t they supposed to be rolled between the thighs of cuban women or something? I don’t know jack about cigars. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/42 "2010-06-08T21:41:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Not that I’m aware of. That’s why I said ‘technically’. > Interesting question. If the actual company that made the cigars fled the country with a supply of seeds and employees who knew how to grow tobacco, are those the ‘real Havanas’ even though the tobacco is grown in Honduras or The Dominican Replublic? Or are the ones that only have the ‘name’ but are actually made in Havana the ‘real Havanas’? If I have my facts straight, the same basic question could come up with Bacardi rum – the Bacardi we US folks get is from Mexican sugar cane, but do they still use the same Cuban “formula”? Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/43 "2010-06-08T21:47:12Z")
Aside from cigar labels and child porn, does anyone know of another country with this level of freedom? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/44 "2010-06-08T21:52:17Z")
Re: classified documents, all I can say is, according to Clifford Stoll, the guards at CIA headquarters take that stuff pretty seriously. When he visited Langley (as related in his book _The Cuckoo’s Egg_), he was so entertained by the array of rubber stamps on one person’s desk, he filled several blank pieces of paper with them. Classified. Top Secret. Eyes Only. Shred After Reading. That kind of stuff. He managed to leave, but his “rubber stamp sampler” collection stayed behind, confiscated by security guards. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/45 "2010-06-08T22:12:58Z")
> [@bbs2k](#): > > What books, if discovered in my home along with the absence of any illegal motive, would I be in trouble for owning? This may be covered under “illegal motive” but you can’t own copyrighted material that you didn’t pay for (or somehow acquire legally). ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/46 "2010-06-08T23:19:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Maybe they weren’t really Cuban? Many Cuban cigar makers fled the country kept the name. For example, Cohibas are made in Cuba by the state-owned company. They are also made by what I assume to be the original company, only in the Dominican Republic. This. Also, somewhat tangentially, Americans (who, being unable to get the real thing, don’t always know what it should look like) provide a good market for fakes advertised as being Cuban, using non-Cuban tobacco and such things as forged Cuban bands and boxes. > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Interesting question. If the actual company that made the cigars fled the country with a supply of seeds and employees who knew how to grow tobacco, are those the ‘real Havanas’ even though the tobacco is grown in Honduras or The Dominican Replublic? Or are the ones that only have the ‘name’ but are actually made in Havana the ‘real Havanas’? No. Only tobacco grown and cigars made in Cuba can be labelled as “Havanas.” I believe, but am not sure, that “Havanas” and “Habanos” is a trademark that Habanos S.A. protects around the world (except, of course, the USA). Note also that there are a number of cigar factories in Cuba, but not necessarily in Havana. But any cigar made in Cuba of Cuban tobacco can properly be called a Havana. Even cigars sold in the USA that carry the old Cuban brand names (examples: H. Upmann, Partagas, Bolivar, Montecristo, and Punch) but are not made in Cuba make no claim as to Cuban origin. The boxes and bands often look like their Cuban counterparts, but do not mention “Cuba” or “Havana.” They do this either by inserting the year of the factory’s founding in place of “Havana” (as H. Upmann does), or stating the manufacturing country (Honduras, Dominican Republic, etc.), or simply incorporating a design of some sort instead. Cigars can be grown with “Cuban seed,” if it can be got out of Cuba; but the seed doesn’t really make a difference. What matters, for cigar tobacco anyway, are soil and weather conditions. Tobacco grown from Cuban seed in Honduras, is still Honduras tobacco. FWIW, it is a myth that Cuban cigars are rolled on the thighs of virgins. They are rolled on tables, by rollers of both sexes. I have had the privilege of watching a master Cuban roller (a male) make a cigar for me–it was quite the elaborate process. But it was obvious that it could be done only on a smooth, flat tabletop; and not on somebody’s leg. One of my former clients was a Canadian tobacconist authorized by Habanos S.A. and its Canadian distributor to sell Havanas. As you can see, I learned a lot. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/47 "2010-06-08T23:42:49Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Re: classified documents, all I can say is, according to Clifford Stoll, the guards at CIA headquarters take that stuff pretty seriously. > > When he visited Langley (as related in his book _The Cuckoo’s Egg_), he was so entertained by the array of rubber stamps on one person’s desk, he filled several blank pieces of paper with them. > > Classified. > Top Secret. > Eyes Only. > Shred After Reading. > > That kind of stuff. He managed to leave, but his “rubber stamp sampler” collection stayed behind, confiscated by security guards. I used to work with Cliff Stoll in the period of his career jsut before the Cuckoo’s Nest Adventure. I very much believe he would do something like this, partly absentmindedly. He probably didn’t lose any sleep over having it confiscated. Thanks for mentioning this, just a couple of weeks ago he came up in conversation, and I wondered whatever became of…off to google! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/48 "2010-06-08T23:43:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Aside from cigar labels and child porn, does anyone know of another country with this level of freedom? Back when I was shipping manager for a small business, I skimmed the UPS guide on forbidden materials. Quite a few countries ban the import or export of any ivory. A shocking amount ban ‘any material critical of the government’. ---
**Author:** ![kun11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@kun11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kun11)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/49 "2010-06-08T23:56:13Z")
The Anarchist’s Cookbook has caused a kerfuffle or two in the past. A boy was arrested in the UK for having a copy of one a few years back but I believe that the charges were later dropped. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/50 "2010-06-09T04:37:52Z")
I’m pretty sure you can read whatever you want. You may have to answer questions about how you acquired the reading material according to the circumstances, however. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/51 "2010-06-09T04:46:24Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > This. Also, somewhat tangentially, Americans (who, being unable to get the real thing, don’t always know what it should look like) provide a good market for fakes advertised as being Cuban, using non-Cuban tobacco and such things as forged Cuban bands and boxes. If I could be sure of getting an actual Havana cigar, I’d [not admit whether I’d] pop up to Vancouver and try one. Just for the experience. But I rarely smoke a cigar, so I’m happy enough to have an Arturo Fuente. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/52 "2010-06-09T16:55:33Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > In the US, that was true with the [Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Pornography_Prevention_Act_of_1996), but it was overturned several years later. So for now, cartoon/computer-generated stuff of that nature is still legal for the average US citizen. Basically, the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning child pornography are constitutional because the government has a legitimate interest in protecting children from exploitation. If no real children were involved in creating the images (drawings, CGI stuff, adults dressed up like children) then the pictures are protected by First Ammendment rights. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/53 "2010-06-09T18:35:41Z")
Bomb making books, rape books and underage sex books may not be be illegal. However, I’d have serious concerns of getting the attention of any cops or FBI that might be running stings. Placing an order on Amazon could result in years of suspicion and harassment. I doubt Amazon carries bomb making literature. I’m not comfortable searching to find out. Cops can build files all they want. J Edgar Hoover was famous for his files on practically everyone famous or political. > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > That makes me wonder if _narratives_ of kiddie pron are illegal. After all, one can legally read endless stories of murder, rape, destruction and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/54 "2010-06-09T18:38:44Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Basically, the Supreme Court ruled that laws banning child pornography are constitutional because the government has a legitimate interest in protecting children from exploitation. If no real children were involved in creating the images (drawings, CGI stuff, adults dressed up like children) then the pictures are protected by First Ammendment rights. Provided they aren’t obscene. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/55 "2010-06-09T18:44:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Generally, you may not bring in any merchandise from Cuba, Iran, Burma (Myanmar) or most of Sudan. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of Treasury enforces economic sanctions against these countries. To bring in merchandise from these countries, you will first need a specific license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Such licenses are rarely granted.) Off-topic: I’ve seen cheap carpets labeled “Made in Iran” at Ikea stores in the United States. How did they make it through? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/56 "2010-06-09T19:02:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Bomb making books, rape books and underage sex books may not be be illegal. However, I’d have serious concerns of getting the attention of any cops or FBI that might be running stings. Placing an order on Amazon could result in years of suspicion and harassment. I doubt Amazon carries bomb making literature. I’m not comfortable searching to find out. > > Cops can build files all they want. J Edgar Hoover was famous for his files on practically everyone famous or political. Paladin Press is a good publisher for that kind of thing: > **[Principles of Improvised Explosive Devices: DeForest,M.J.: 9780873642880:...](https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Improvised-Explosive-Devices-DeForest/dp/0873642880)** > > Buy Principles of Improvised Explosive Devices on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders 10 copies available, and based on the Amazon sales rank I can tell you a copy sold approximately 4-8 weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/57 "2010-06-10T13:11:24Z")
There are lots of things that, if you’re reading them, someone has broken a law, but it may not be you. For instance, if you’re paging through a living person’s medical records, without their consent, then someone has probably broken the law. But I have no idea if merely possessing them is a crime (probably not) or reading them, knowing that you’re not supposed to (perhaps, depending on how the statue and regs are written). There’s all kinds of other information like that. Another example is government agencies often have information that it’s against regulations to release to the public, even though it’s not classified (for instance, confidential information about a business’s secret manufacturing process, that was needed for a product approval). I’m not sure whether it’s a criminal matter for a lawyer to release privileged information without consent (though probably not criminal for a recipient who didn’t know it was privileged). And then there’s a category of information that’s not secret or privileged by any particular law, but could still be considered stolen property if obtained without proper authorization. For instance secret business information. In that case, merely possessing a document isn’t a crime, but possessing it knowing that it was stolen would be a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/58 "2010-06-10T16:37:32Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > And then there’s a category of information that’s not secret or privileged by any particular law, but could still be considered stolen property if obtained without proper authorization. For instance secret business information. In that case, merely possessing a document isn’t a crime, but possessing it knowing that it was stolen would be a crime. Posessing _anything_ that you know to be stolen is a crime, right? ---
**Author:** ![FNAWright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@FNAWright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FNAWright)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/59 "2010-06-10T16:51:19Z")
Re: Cigars A couple of years ago it was legal to bring back into the U.S. a certain quantity of cigars from Cuba. This was a result of a change in earlier law. Sometime in the last two years, the law was again changed to a strict prohibition. Concerning “rolled on the thighs of virgins” this really doesn’t even rise to the level of a myth. There were and apparently still are cigars rolled with Cuban tobacco in the U.S. These were once referred to as “clear Havanas”. Tobacco has an almost unlimited ‘shelf life’ and there have been caches of pre-embargo imported Cuban tobacco discovered in the last half-dozen years in both Texas and New Jersey (some before too), and cigars containing some small portion of that tobacco (and a larger portion of the cachet of Cuban tobacco) are currently in the marketplace. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409/60 "2010-06-10T16:53:44Z")
Mein Kampf, The Communist Manifesto, Mao’s Little Red Book, and many more books in that vein are almost certainly available at my local Barnes and Noble. If not, they’re certainly on Amazon - I can buy them whenever I wish, read them while standing outside the White House fence if it suits me, and there’s not a thing that any policeman in the country could do about it, no matter how offensive he found my choice of reading material. Say what you will about the American political system - there’s certainly much to criticize - but _this_, we do better than anyone on Earth. If you want it, you can read it, unless someone had to hurt kids to make it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-am-i-not-allowed-to-read-in-the-us/542409.md?page=4)