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Watch out for the copyright Gestapo

Here in New Zealand, most people are pleased that format shifting has been added to the list of permitted acts under our revised copyright laws.

This means it becomes legal to rip tracks from that store-bought CD to your iPod or MP3 player. So long as you have the original disks to prove that you are legally in possession of that music, you'll be safe from prosecution.

Although this is new for NZ, it's something that's been allowed under the provisions of "fair use" in many other countries - but it would appear as if some quietly conducted law-making could effectively see Kiwis and others in big trouble if they format-shift.

Thanks to a reader, I've been alerted to the rather draconian effects of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), an international agreement that covers many aspects of copyright law.

In effect, the provisions of the ACTA could see your iPod, laptop or any other device capable of storing/playing copyrighted media seized and confiscated at the border of a participating country.

It seems that the ACTA is the work of the G8 and other nations (including NZ according to this info) and is being drafted with the goal of internationally policing copyright law so as to (allegedly) reduce piracy.

However, the provisions mooted under this agreement are powerful and far-reaching.

In effect, it places an obligation on border authorities to check the contents of iPods, laptops, cellular phones and other media devices to ensure that they do not carry any illegally copied material.

If you've *legally* ripped your CD collection to your iPod or other player and travel abroad, to one of the nations signing up to the ACTA, you will have to also take some way of proving that the tracks on that device have not been copied illegally.

Just about the only way I can think of to do this is to take the original CDs with you as well. Imagine how impractical that is on an 8GB player loaded to the gills with legally ripped tracks!

And what if you perform your own music and have a fist-full of self-produced tracks? How on earth do you prove that they are legit and not pirated?

Travellers on business who consider it essential to encrypt important business' documents stored on their laptops may also find themselves having to wait while all those documents are decrypted for examination while entering member countries.

It seems that the provisions of this agreement are so draconian and will be so unpopular that it has been drafted in secrecy, news of its existence and imminent introduction only coming to light when details were "leaked" to Sunshine Media, the operator of the Wikileaks.org website.

None of those involved in the drafting or possible implementation of the agreement have been willing to comment on it to date, something that must raise further concerns amongst a public that will be subjected to its draconian powers without any form of consultation.

Yes, we certainly need an international accord on copyright law and we have had this to a degree in the form of the Berne Convention and more recently the WIPO Copyright Treaty. Do we really need yet another bunch of laws that can turn people with legally ripped music into criminals?

Do we need yet another impediment to the smooth flow of people across international borders?

Will it soon become just impractical to travel internationally with your favourite tunes or movies in your possession?

And why is this agreement being thrashed out in such secrecy?

If, as WikiLeaks suggests, NZ is party to this agreement, should we be asking why there's been no public consultation? Do we live in a democracy or not?

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