We've all heard of the increasing security checks at the airport, but is checking your Ipod for pirated tunes going a bit too far?

A leaked discussion paper has revealed that the Australian Government are trying to tackle the problem of illegal music downloads by giving customs officers the authority to search mp3 players and laptops for pirated music. Passengers with excessive pirated material could face hefty fines or in some extreme cases even jail time.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has confirmed that the government was part of the negotiations for the agreement, but “Australia has not signed nor agreed to any proposals."

There has been no talk of how the airport customs will be able to determine what exactly qualifies as pirate material. Considering the huge trend of downloading free online music it would appear that future air passengers could be in for a very quiet flight.

Words Amanda Gaston

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