Since the advent of communication, we have sought ways to secure and verify messages. Since the creation of society, we have sought ways to protect property. In this digital age, communication and property are transparently duplicable at negligible cost and effort.
Recent revelations about surveillance make it reasonable to act as though all communication can be monitored or recorded, even if encryption prevents it from being read with current technology. Automated collection and massive processing power add the ability to collect meta-data, a resource sometimes more valuable than the communication itself.
The idea of digital property is hotly-debated. New political organizations formed around these questions and lawsuits about rights, royalties, and ownership are frequent news items. Century-old agreements govern month-old technology. Tools and their uses are regularly conflated.
Despite local jurisdiction, these concerns aren’t specific to a province, state, or region. Privacy, security, and property are universal concerns. The goal of this site is to provide news and information about digital rights and property and to help create discussion and awareness about these issues.