As an end to EFF's year-long celebration of our 30th anniversary, join us for a candid live discussion with some of our founders and early board members. EFF's Executive Director, Cindy Cohn will be joined with Esther Dyson, Mitch Kapor, and John Gilmore to discuss a variety of topics from EFF's origin story and its role in digital rights to where EFF is as an organization today.
Please note: EFF co-founder Steve Wozniak had initially planned to join the conversation but had to cancel due to an unexpected scheduling conflict.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at 5 pm Pacific Time
Streaming Discussion with Q&A
This event is live and free!
$10 donation Appreciated
ABOUT EFF30 FIRESIDE CHATS:
To commemorate the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s 30th anniversary, we present EFF30 Fireside Chats. This limited series of livestreamed conversations looks back at some of the biggest issues in internet history and their effects on the modern web. Past guests include renowned security technologist Bruce Schneier on the Crypto Wars, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden on Section 230 and free speech, Edward Snowden on privacy and surveillance, Gigi Sohn on the fate of the internet, and leading experts in technology policy.
WATCH:
EFF Livestream on Twitch (Twitch Privacy Policy)
Simulcasts: Facebook Live, Twitter, and YouTube Live.
A recording will be available after the program on YouTube and the Internet Archive.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
EFF Co-Founder Mitch Kapor is a pioneer of the personal computing industry, and an entrepreneur, investor, and advocate for social change. As a founding Partner at Kapor Capital, Mitch, along with his Partner and wife Freada Kapor Klein, invests in tech startups which close gaps of access, opportunity, and outcome for low-income communities and communities of color, and in founders committed to building diverse workforces and inclusive cultures.
In 1982, Mitch founded Lotus Development Corporation and designed the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, the “killer application” which made the personal computer ubiquitous in the business world. He co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1990, and is the founding chair of the Mozilla Foundation, creator of the Firefox web browser.
Mitch is the co-Chair of the non-profit Kapor Center in Oakland, California, and also serves on the board of SMASH, the Summer Math and Science Honors Academy, a three-year STEM-intensive residential college prep program that empowers students to deepen their talents and pursue STEM careers.
He would like to be known for his saying: "Genius is evenly distributed by zip code, but opportunity is not,” and for his efforts to close that gap.
EFF Co-Founder and Board Member John Gilmore is an entrepreneur and civil libertarian. He was an early employee of Sun Microsystems, early open source author, and co-created Cygnus Solutions, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Cypherpunks, the DES Cracker, and the Internet's "alt" newsgroups. He's spent 30 years doing programming, hardware and software design, management, philosophy, philanthropy, and investment. Along with being a board member of EFF, he is also on the Board of the Usenix Association, CodeWeavers, and ReQuest. He's trying to get people to think more about the society they are building. His advocacy on drug policy aims to reduce the immense harm caused by current attempts to control the mental states of free citizens. His advocacy on encryption policy aims to improve public understanding of this fundamental technology for privacy and accountability in open societies. (Back to top)
Former EFF Chairman Esther Dyson is the current chairman of EDventure Holdings. Her primary activity is investing in and nurturing start-ups, with a recent focus on health care, human capital, and aerospace. Overall, she is fascinated by new business models, new technologies, and new markets (both economically and politically). From October 2008 to March of 2009, she lived in Star City outside of Moscow, Russia, training as a backup cosmonaut. Apart from this brief sabbatical, she is an active board member for a variety of startups. (Back to top)
EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn served as EFF's Legal Director as well as its General Counsel from 2000-2015. Ms. Cohn first became involved with EFF in 1993, when EFF asked her to serve as the outside lead attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the U.S. export restrictions on cryptography.
Ms. Cohn has been named to TheNonProfitTimes 2020 Power & Influence TOP 50 list, honoring 2020's movers and shakers. In 2018, Forbes included Ms. Cohn as one of America's Top 50 Women in Tech. The National Law Journal named Ms. Cohn one of 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2013,noting: "[I]f Big Brother is watching, he better look out for Cindy Cohn." She was also named in 2006 for "rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online." In 2007 the National Law Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America. In 2010 the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California awarded her its Intellectual Property Vanguard Award and in 2012 the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded her the James Madison Freedom of Information Award. (Back to top)
EFF is dedicated to a harassment-free experience for everyone, and all participants are encouraged to view our full Event Expectations.
Questions? Email us at events@eff.org.
