Border officials may seize iPods under trade deal

International regulator could police copyright

Vito Pilieci, Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, May 24, 2008

OTTAWA - The federal government is secretly negotiating a copyright agreement that could make some information on Canadian iPods, laptop computers or other personal electronic devices illegal.

Called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the new plan would see Canada join other countries, including the United States and members of the European Union, to form an international coalition against copyright infringement.

The agreement is being structured much like the North American Free Trade Agreement except it will create rules and regulations regarding private copying and copyright laws.

Federal trade agreements do not require parliamentary approval.

The deal would create an international regulator that could turn border guards and other public security personnel into copyright police. The security officials would be charged with checking laptops, iPods and even cellular phones for content that "infringes" on copyright laws, such as ripped CDs and movies.

The guards would also be responsible for determining what is infringing content and what is not.

The agreement also proposes that any content that may have been copied from a DVD or digital video recorder would be open for scrutiny by officials -- even if the content was copied legally.

The leaked ACTA document states officials should be given the "authority to take action against infringers (i. e., authority to act without complaint by rights holders)."

Anyone found with infringing content in their possession would be open to a fine. They also may have their device confiscated or destroyed, according to the four-page document.

"If Hollywood could order intellectual property laws for Christmas, what would they look like? This is pretty close," said David Fewer, staff counsel at the University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic.

Michael Geist, Canada research chair of Internet and E-commerce law at the University of Ottawa and an expert on Canadian copyright law, said, "The lack of consultation, the secrecy behind it and the speculation that this will be concluded within a matter of months without any real public input is deeply troubling."

Both Mr. Fewer and Mr. Geist said once Canada signs the new trade agreement it will be next to impossible to back out of it.

In Canada, border guards already perform random searches of laptops at airports to check for child pornography. ACTA would expand the role of those guards.

The deal could also impose strict regulations on Internet service providers, forcing them to hand over customer information without a court order.