April 15: Richard Stallman to Speak at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas
Next Wednesday in the afternoon Dr. Stallman will speak in a US college for the second time this year and for the second time in nearly 8 years. If we're not mistaken, it's in this large auditorium:
As per the announcement from RMS:
>Richard Stallman will speak at 4pm on April 15 at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
Title: Free/Libre Software and Freedom in the Digital Society
Computing and software put people's freedom in danger, as the usual practices nowadays give software developers and "service" providers power over the users. Resisting this requires that the software you use be free/libre, and that you do your own computing activities on your own computers, not on companies' servers.
Nonfree programs and online "services" are often designed to snoop on users, restrict users, control users and/or manipulate uesers. Meanwhile the War on Sharing, with its DRM, aims to stop people from sharing copies of published works. Machine learning, which we should not presume constitutes "intelligence", can cause various injustices.
The talk will present an alternative to "age verification" schemes that all enable identifying each and every user, facilitating Orwellian monitoring and repression.
Location: Husain Auditorium (room 2.216), Computer Science Building, 2317 Speedway, Austin.
Time: 16:00
As usual, the event will have around an hour of presentation followed by an hour of Q&A.
Please bring cash in case you wish to buy some FSF gear.
"Machine learning," he argues, "which we should not presume constitutes "intelligence", can cause various injustices."
He says: "The talk will present an alternative to "age verification" schemes that all enable identifying each and every user, facilitating Orwellian monitoring and repression."
Very timely.
From his front page:
Also in his notes: "Richard Stallman will give a talk titled "Free/Libre Software and Freedom in the Digital Society" at 4pm on April 15 at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas."
Announced yesterday by the organiser:
Our Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and a pioneer of the modern free software movement, will be speaking at The University of Texas at Austin on April 15.
Richard has spent decades advocating for software that respects users’ freedom to run, study, modify, and share the programs they use. His work has shaped major initiatives including the GNU Project and has had a lasting impact on computing, digital rights, and technology policy.
This special lecture offers a rare opportunity to hear from one of the most influential and provocative figures in computing. Learn more!
This is his second talk in a US collage since 2018. The first one, in Georgia, was watched by many thousands. █