German security expert denied access to US

Truly silly. Halvar Flake, a German security expert planning to do a training to Blackhat attendees (a number of whom are federal security officials, no less), has been refused access to the United States over a technicality (despite never having had such a problem before):

For the next 4 1/2 hours I was interviewed about who exactly I am, why I am coming to the US, what the nature of my contract with Blackhat is, and why my trainings class is not performed by an American citizen. After 4 hours, it became clear that a decision had been reached that I was to be denied entry to the US, on the ground that since I am a private person conducting the trainings for Blackhat, I was essentially a Blackhat employee and would require an H1B visa to perform two days of trainings in the US.

Unfortunately, it�s not often within the purview of bureaucrats to work within the �spirit of the law�. One can only hope that Halvar can appeal to some reason at the consulate.

Alex Eckelberry
(Thanks Andreas)