According to the Vancouver Sun today (Vito Pilieci), the federal government is secretly negotiating an agreement to revamp international copyright laws, laws that could allow border guards to check private gadgets for material that infringes copyright.

I’d like to know how a border guard is going to determine if I’ve ripped a movie or not. If that’s all my music or not. Did I buy that ebook?

The article also says that the deal could “impose strict regulations on Internet service providers, forcing those companies to hand over customer information without a court order.”

What kind of police state is this? Aren’t their drugs and other things they should be paying attention to?

The agreement is called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and federal trade agreements do not require parliamentary approval.

Quote: The deal would create a 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 proposes 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.

Apparently anyone with infringing content in their possession, or content that could be acquired illegally, regardless of whether it was acquired legally, will be questioned and open to a fine.

The leaked document also says that “they may also have their device confiscated or destroyed, according to the four-page document.”

Where do we live, again?