Howdy all, Here's an event that is likely of interest to free-software supporters. When: Saturday 21st January 2012, 3.00 - 5.00pm Where: Trades Hall, Corner Lygon & Victoria Streets, Carlton The response of governments and corporations to Wikileaks, Anonymous, the occupy movement and the Arab Spring has been defensive and warlike. The internet and social media were declared tools of agitation. Behaviour that sought peaceful democratic reform was characterised as treasonous or even terrorist. Government asserted the right to flick the internet off-switch, and law enforcement, Internet Service Providers, telcos and the judiciary were enlisted to harass activists via subpoenas, takedown notices, mercenary denial of service attacks, and direct denial of services based on unexplained breaches of hard to find user licences. It also involved the ritual harassment of activists in the far corners of international airports, dark places reserved for unlawful arrivals and criminal suspects. It doesn't have to be like this. Come and hear from an activist, journalist, researcher and legislator challenging the gatekeepers and proposing alternatives to the weaponisation of cyberspace. <URL:http://www.efa.org.au/2012/01/08/war-on-the-internet/> -- \ “I thought I'd begin by reading a poem by Shakespeare, but then | `\ I thought ‘Why should I? He never reads any of mine.’” —Spike | _o__) Milligan | Ben Finney