Richard Stallman – hacker, founder of the Free Software Movement, activist and theorist for civil rights in the digital age – will be doing a short speaking tour of England in March. As well as the politics and practice of free software, Richard will be discussing a range of issues which have arisen in the digital age – from the oppressive use of ‘copyright’ by media corporations and resisting draconian legislation against downloading and digital freedom, through to the misassumptions around ‘digital inclusion’, as well as recent topics such as Wikileaks. This tour will not be networked through Facebook!

Topic: Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks
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 draconian punishments, and to increase 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. This talk will also cover the unjust goals of the Digital Economy Act and what the UK ought to do instead.

March 8th 7pm, free entry.

Chichester Lecture Theatre, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9RH