CBC Maritimes

Privacy, reliable and affordable access to the net, the security of online transactions, the rural/urban divide - they all emerged on our special Digital Issues show.

My producer and I always wonder who'll call in to particular phone-ins. For instance - today's, in which we were asking what concerns you about the digital world we've entered. Will more women or men call ?
From online banking to social networks like Facebook & Twitter, from legal & illegal downloads, to privacy - there seems to be plenty to talk about, but for men or for women ?
Well, Laura Murray would have her suspicions. She's a co-author of "Canadian Copyright: A Citizen's Guide".
Now copyright mightn't interest you, but in the summer of 2008, nearly 100,000 Canadians signed up on a Facebook group called "Fair Copyright For Canada" to express their views on Bill C-61, which was designed to amend the Copyright Act.
Laura Murray was happy to see so many people get involved in this discussion, but at the same time, she noticed a familiar gender difference. As one observer put it, "Once you get into the wonk, more males than females seem to want to wag their mouths"
Laura noted that 37% of the Facebook group were women. But then, of the posted comments, only 11% were made by women. And beyond that, only 2 - count 'em - 2 women made multiple postings.She told us what she learned as she dove into this example.

Laura was the keynote speaker at a recent townhall entitled "Who's Shaping Your Digital Future ?" sponsored by the Chebucto Community Net and Dalhousie University (see earlier podcasts this week for other excerpts).
Digital Rights Management was another topic tackled at the forum. It's a form of copyright protection that limits what you can do with the digital content that you buy. Darren Abramson teaches at Dalhousie University where he specializes in logic & the philosophy of Computer Science. He pointed out the many ways DRM is already affecting us, and why it's the focus of so much lobbying.

We wrapped up the week - and the show - by asking "What's the most important digital issue for you ?" Our guests were David Fraser, a lawyer who specializes in privacy issues with the  firm of McInnes Cooper and who maintains a website and blog on Privacy Law, and Andrew Wright, the office manager for the Chebucto Community Net - a non-profit internet service provider.