For border security has benn granted the right to inspeact and check for the authenticity of all your digital files whether they be on your iPod or your laptop according to proposed border laws. Canada is beginning preparations into turning their borders not only to screen for illegal entrants to their respective countries but also as copyright checkpoints according to Yahoo Tech and many people are getting jittery of having border guards asking for all gadgets and gizmos to check for pirated content. The rules of engagement so to speak are still quite muddy but indications say that they have been authorized to destroy hardware should it be necessary if it is found to contain pirated stuff.
The move is quite unsettling for there is still no universal way of telling whether a digital file is authentic or not and that there have still been no published guidelines on how the searches are going to be made. Imagine a laptop that has hundreds if not thousands of audio files, how the hell can they check all those files for legality? The move is part of the aliance between the United States and the EU that resulted in the ACTA agreement. ACTA stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement which grants border authorities to question the legality of digital files on any digital device. May it be a thumb drive, a cellular phone, iPod or laptop, border guards are to be granted the authority to request for them and do searches using a set of methods (which should be quick by the way or travellers might mutiny due to delays affecting tourism and trade). You don’t only run the risk of loosing your precious iPod you take anywhere you can even be fined. Canada is now currently doing random searches of laptops for pornographic materials and the new law/s should they be approved would expand their searching abilities a set further (by a mile).
Further deliberations on the necessary rules and regualtions of the said law is to be debated on the next G8 meeting where the proposed law is to be laid out, diced and spiced hopefully with the protection of privacy in mind for the travelling public.