Free Public Presentation

"WHEN CLOSED TECHNOLOGIES THREATEN THE OPEN SOCIETY"

Plato Royalty Technology Presentation Series
The Evergreen State College

Wednesday, December 11, 2002, 6:30-7:30 PM, Lecture Hall 1

"A great untold story of our time is the staggering privatization and abuse of dozens of resources that we collectively own. The plunder is widespread, affecting public lands, the broadcast airwaves, the Internet, the public domain of knowledge and creativity, publicly funded medicines, and even our genes. As companies quietly seize our common wealth, however, our government often fails to protect us, sometimes actually giving away our common assets." -- David Bollier

David Bollier, author, activist and theorist of the American commons (http://www.bollier.org), will discuss how software design and copyright law threaten open, democratic culture.

            What's at stake??

• Free speech via digital media
• New genres of Internet creativity
• Consumer benefits from competition and innovation

David Bollier is an independent policy strategist, consultant, and journalist who encourages citizen action. His key concerns focus on reclaiming the American commons through promoting an understanding of how digital technologies are changing democratic culture, and by fighting the excesses of intellectual property law. David is also the author of Silent Theft: The Private Plunder of Our Common Wealth and Co-founder of Public Knowledge, a new Washington, D.C. public-interest advocacy group defending the commons of the Internet, science and culture.

For more information, contact Doug Schuler, (206) 634-0752 or dschuler@evergreen.edu.