Visitors to Hyde park last weekend might have been surprised to see a new speaker; unexpectedly coherent compared to the rabble of god-botherers who normally illuminate Speakers’ Corner. This man has not found religion - it was all part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s European outreach programme. This American group is trying to make us Britishers aware of our rights before they are stealthily removed.
Cory made the first speech at Speakers’ Corner.
I was lucky enough to be invited to ‘The Copyfighters Drunken Brunch‘, lead by Canadian information rights activist and Sci-Fi writer Cory Doctrow; The event began with a breakfast of sparkling wine and beigels. It was an opportunity to mingle with a collection of writers, lawyers, artists and activists. The theme of the event was how we as citizens can protect our digital rights.
During the meeting I unknowingly sat next to Dave and Lee from NTK.net, one of the longest-running humorous technology journals. One of the benefits of being “internet famous” is that you can sit amongst a room of avid readers (like myself) and still remain anonymous.
After the discussion we were all invited to try our hands as activists by standing up at Speakers’ Corner to give a short speech. Gavin (a film maker and ffii lobbyist) and I spoke on the subject of Software Patents, a rather dry sounding subject which may have far reaching consequences to independant software developers like me. It was my first time at the corner, and I was surprised how willing the audience was to hear give my ill-prepared speech. Still, once my nervous moments were over I was glad I had made the effort.
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