A secret treaty called the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement between the G8 developed nations is coming into effect with searches at Canadian and Australian airports of laptops, MP3 players and cell phones for pirated music and movies.
The draconian law seeks to impose the strict enforcement of intellectual property rights, resulting in fines or jail time for pirates.

It does not stop at the mere possession of pirated tracks either. The U.K. government last week began tracking internet users through the nation’s ISPs who will flag users that exchange copyrighted material. These users will receive a warning direct from the government and if the activity is continued, users can expect a complete denial of service.

The U.S. has also adopted the treaty but is safe for the time being as it must first be ratified by Congress. There is another threat, however. According to a report today for Reuters, federal agents in the U.S. now have the power to seize electronic devices and laptops for unspecified periods without suspicion.

The treaty was also adopted by the European Commission, Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea so we may see a similar kind of enforcement in these countries soon.

Apart from the obvious violation of personal freedoms and privacy, there does not seem to be any way to detect whether your music collection is legit or not. The same goes for movies ripped from a DVD. This leads me to believe that this crackdown is merely for show, at great expense to the taxpayer and the inconvenience of travelers.

Sources:
News.com.au
PC World
DVICE
CoolestGadgets