Any worries that the asics will be seized when you import them into whatever country your taking them to afterward? Seems a big risk that would be taken by the investors on this one to me, or do you have a reliable method that you can prove will work to get them out of the country safely?
Hi Jasinlee,
The seizing of imported products by customs agents varies directly according to the importation regulations of each individual country (see our FAQ links on 2nd post which we updated recently). Generally speaking, there are common items such as guns, explosives, drugs, farm seeds, etc that nearly every country bans as imports and will indeed seize them at customs. However, each country does vary slightly. We still have some time to dig into the details before shipping out, but ultimately that responsibility will rest with our individual customers to familiarize themselves with their country's regulations. We are aware of things like ensuring the product is CE certified before shipping to Europe for example, or that any power supplies in the product are UL certified, that circuit boards are RoHS compliant (lead free), so we do have some homework ourselves to do, but already know quite a bit.
Further, we will be looking at lists of countries that are generally banned from global trade (i.e. North Korea, Iran) to name only a couple. I think in some cases this list is many dozens of countries long. So this needs to be looked at from the perspective of the country we are shipping from - at the moment this is primarily Russia. On this topic, we (Bitcentury) also are checking with our lawyers to better understand circumstances such as even though we are exporting out of Russia, our local laws (i.e. Canada for me) may still apply. Personally speaking, I intend to abide by such laws, which to some philosophical extent are counter to some people's idea of what bitcoin should be about (i.e. should be open for everyone - no exceptions); however, I have no intentions of getting arrested, in trouble with the law etc.
Suffice it to say, we have already done quite a bit of research, but by no means exhausted every possible scenario we may encounter. We have already been in contact with experienced people doing business in Russia and familiar with how things operate there, and our confidence level is fairly high at this time, hence why we are continuing to sell pre-order units. It is quite likely that we may end up doing some test shipments initially just to test the waters, rather than risking a very large batch of shipments as our first attempt. Prudence, experienced network of contacts in Russia and due diligence are really key.
Thanks,
Luis
PS. How's that litecoin FPGA coming along? Give me a shout when you have a confirmed working prototype!