Passengers at Australian airports may soon find their iPods and laptops being searched for illegally downloaded music.
Officials are reportedly considering whether to implement proposals outlined by members of the G8 geopolitical community in a new international directive.
The measure would primarily be targeted at commercial suppliers, but there are fears many hapless music fans who have shared files with their friends could also be affected by the crackdown.
Critics say that the proposals are fundamentally misguided, noting that high-level criminal gangs would have no need to physically transport MP3 files that can easily be transmitted via virtual means.
In reality individual fans would likely bear the brunt of the music industry’s wrath, says Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Coroneos.
“It talks about [sanctions for] commercial infringements – does that mean 1, 10, 20 or 1,000 songs,” news.com.au quoted him as saying. “It could be that people get sent to jail for being in possession of commercial-scale quantities of copied music.”
The new G8 proposals coincide with plans by the European Parliament to hold Internet Service Providers to account if their users download illegal content.
