3rd Digital Media Conference to Address NSA Spying, Grassroots Response; Richard Stallman to Give Keynote Address
Open Media Boston is pleased to invite the general public to attend the 3rd Digital Media Conference on October 25-27, 2013 at Lesley University's Doble Campus on Mellen St. in Cambridge.
Richard Stallman, noted software developer, software freedom activist and founder of the Free Software Foundation, will give the keynote address on Saturday, October 26 at 9:30 a.m. The address is entitled "Should the US have more surveillance than the USSR?"
The conference theme is Freedom and Unfreedom in the Digital Age. Plenaries and workshops will address the grave threat posed to American democracy by the ongoing NSA scandal, and relate it to threats and opportunities posed to civil liberties by the swift growth of digital media and technology in the service of the national security state.
Additional connections will be made between the struggle to expand civil liberties nationwide and the campaigns by communities of color and immigrants to resist constant surveillance and mass incarceration by increasingly militarized police, ICE, the DEA, state and federal prison systems, and the private prison and security industries. Basic workshops on social media, digital storytelling and privacy software will also be offered.
Confirmed speakers include: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, author and media personality (NYC), Kade Crockford of ACLU Massachusetts, Gregg Housh of Anonymous, Betty Yu of the Center for Media Justice (NYC), Rajesh Kasturirangan of MIT, Subrata Ghoshroy of MIT, Zak Rogoff of the Free Software Foundation, Robin Jacks of Occupy Boston, Ragini Shah of Suffolk Law School, Alfredo Lopez of May First/People Link (NYC), Mark Bray, author, Chris Faraone of the Weekly Dig, and Deb Nicholson of MediaGoblin.
The opening October 25th 7 p.m. "Unfreedom" plenary featuring Abdul-Matin, Crockford, Housh, and Lopez is free and open to the public. Registration for the full conference is $35 ($10 students and low-income).
Full background and registration information is available on the conference website:
http://digitalmediaconference.org/.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/digitalmediaconference/. Twitter: @bostondmc.
The event is sponsored by Lesley University, Massachusetts Global Action, Massachusetts Peace Action, Metrowest Peace Action, Open Media Boston, TecsChange and United for Justice with Peace.
Hope to see you all there.
Jason Pramas is Editor/Publisher of Open Media Boston, and an organizer of the 3rd Digital Media Conference.
