Actually, I don't think it would be illegal to buy it and send it along to a buddy overseas, since you'd have to pay shipping anyway, and still overcome the exchange rate difference. Not sure, though, just that it seems weird that it would be made illegal to 'export' a single item to a friend, when you'd basically have to pay the same that the mfr. would pay to ship/exchange the same item, and in some cases, you'd pay even more since you're not shipping in bulk. The only laws I'm aware of concerning computer software has to do with cryptography; you can't ship 128-bit encryption stuff outside of North America, though 40-bit is okay. Also, you'd prolly have to check with Customs before shipping the real high-end machinery (basically, anything that isn't a home PC, and even then, check anyway.) An aside: As for Legume's statement, he's right, but for the wrong reasons, and with possibly the wrong outcome... the world will eventually have one government (it just makes sense to), but it'll be a long ways off, and I doubt if it'll be the US (or any current nation for that matter) running the show.