There have been plans to have iPod searches conducted on an international level in the hunt for those with pirated songs.

News.com.au has outlined the claims from a leaked federal government discussion paper.

If this plan was to go ahead those caught with pirated music could face fines and even jail time.

Not only is this disturbing, but it is a huge invasion of privacy by all governments who would sign up to such a proposal. People don’t just store music on their iPods, but they have their photo collections amongst other things on there as well. In fact the plan even went as far as to include laptops in the searches! Forgot keeping your secret documents hidden. You may be forced to give away corporate secrets to the prying eyes of customs officials in the search for music pirates.

Why the governments need to take such measure is beyond imagination.

Music has and always will be copied from one computer to another. Friends share music all the time, and always have done. I remember my getting mix tapes from various friends and family. The industry is no different now than 15 years ago. The only difference is that the pirated music is accessible on a global level.

Anyway, the government does not need to look so far to find pirated music. A University of Hertfordshire study revealed that most people have over 800 copied songs on their iPods. Telegraph.co.uk published an article on the study last month (here). That could mean an awful lot of people facing jail time!

The only question I have is how will they tell which music is pirated?

You can read the full story here on the News.com.au website.

Photo Credit, Patrick Haney