Richard Stallman: 'Copyright vs. Community in the Age of Computer Networks' February 6, 2009

If you are an activist, music lover, cinephile, programmer, media junkie, or if you just love your freedom, come hear about the total liberation of cyberspace! Renowned technologist, hacker and author RICHARD STALLMAN will be speaking on Copyright vs. Community in the Age of Computer Networks -- live in East Van! Also: Live music by the CREAKING PLANKS.

Admission: FREE or by donation, no one turned away for inability to pay. There will be plenty of time for questions after the talk. This speech is designed to be accessible to everyone; the public is encouraged to attend!! Tea and coffee will be provided.

--> Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it.

The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying for these punishments, and an increase in their copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. But if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright -- to promote progress, for the benefit of the public -- then we must make changes in the other direction.

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Richard Stallman launched the development of the GNU operating system (see http://www.gnu.org) in 1984. GNU is free software: everyone has the freedom to copy it and redistribute it, as well as to make changes either large or small. The GNU/Linux system, basically the GNU operating system with Linux added, is used on tens of millions of computers today. Stallman has received the ACM Grace Hopper Award, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, the Electronic Frontier Foundations Pioneer award, and the Takeda Award for Social/Economic Betterment, as well as several honorary doctorates. His book Free Software, Free Society will be available for purchase, and there will be a book signing after the talk.

This lecture is being sponsored by:
* FREE GEEK Vancouver http://freegeekvancouver.org
* Simon Fraser University http://www.sfu.ca/humanities-institute
* Vancouver Hack Society (VHS) http://vancouver.hackspace.ca
* Vancouver Fair Copyright Coalition http://faircopy.ca

Richard Stallman will also be appearing at UBC the same weekend; see http://www.fsf.org/events/rms-speeches.html for details.

Links for the eager:

* Free Software Foundation http://fsf.org
* Free software for freedom http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html
* Linux and GNU http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html

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Official Website: http://freegeekvancouver.org/en/RMS