How Copyright Threatens Democracy

New America Foundation
Monday, June 28, 2010
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Cory Doctorow, co-founder of the UK Open Rights Group, discusses his dystopian vision of the growing conflict between free speech and the democratic principles of the Internet and the business aims of commercial media giants. Co-hosted by the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative, Public Knowledge and Copynight DC, Doctorow combines his perspective as an author, activist, co-editor of Boing Boing to outline the threats to a free and open Internet, speech, creativity and fair use, and innovation from boundless copyright protections. Looking forward, Doctorow's prediction is bleak:

This means war. It is time to stop treating the industry's fight over copyright as a brush-war over creativity. The commercial media giants' business models and ambitions are increasingly incompatible with a free and open Internet, and hence a free and open society.

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger -- the co-editor of Boing Boing and the author of the bestselling Tor Teens/HarperCollins UK novel Little Brother. He is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in London.

introduction
James Losey
Program Associate
Open Technology Initiative
New America Foundation

To RSVP:
http://www.newamerica.net/events/2010/cory_doctorow

For questions, contact Stephanie Gunter at (202) 596-3367 or gunter@newamerica.net