From a Canadian news service, a story that says the Canadian government is secretly participating in “negotiations”—apparently with the U.S. and the E.U.—to create a copyright trade union:

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.

Read down and the story says that the agreement will probably be “tabled” at an upcoming G8 summit, but the implications are disturbing. It’s not an exclusively Canadian story; the report, which it says was based on “leaked documents,” seems to indicate that the agreement, if completed, will subject any traveler between the U.S., Canada, and the E.U., to this sort of scrutiny.

Since there’s no easy way to determine whether a particular song or movie has or hasn’t been ripped legally, the opportunities for abuse aren’t just legion; they would be inherent in any enforcement at all.