I’m reading and signing book at the fantastic University Book Store in Seattle this Monday, April 5 at 7PM. Also on the bill are Mark Henry, Jeanne Stein, and Jaye Wells. Hope to see you there!

Events Calendar – University Book Store, Seattle Washington

I’m headed to Seattle this weekend to be one of the guests of honor at Norwescon, along with (among others), Vernor Vinge. If you’re in Seattle and you can make it, I’d love to say hi! Here’s my programming schedule for the event:

Thursday, 7:00 p.m., Opening Ceremonies
William Sadorus (M), Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, David Hartwell, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

Thursday, 8:00– 10:00 p.m., Artist/Pro Guest Reception
Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, David Hartwell, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

Friday, 11:00 a.m., Computer Misconceptions in Science Fiction Literature and Film
Ted Butler (M), Cory Doctorow, Brian David Johnson, David Shoemaker

Friday, 2:00 p.m., Intellectual Property and Creative Commons
Eileen Gunn (M), Ben Dobyns, Cory Doctorow, Elton Elliott

Friday, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m., Autograph Session #1

Friday, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., Lifetime Dinner
Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, David Hartwell, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

Friday, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., PK Dick Awards
William Sadorus (M), Carlos Cortes, Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, Daryl Gregory, David Hartwell, Ian McDonald, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

Saturday, 10:00 a.m., Writing For Young Adults
Steven Barnes (M), Alma Alexander, Cory Doctorow, Lisa Mantchev

Saturday, 1:30 p.m., Autograph Session #2

Saturday, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m., Keysigning Reception

Saturday, 6:00 p.m., Surveillance in the 21st Century – is it Good or Bad?
Cat Rambo (M), Cory Doctorow, Eileen Gunn, Ian McDonald

Sunday, Noon, Law and the Virtual World
Cory Doctorow, Andrea Howe, Burt Webb

Sunday, 5:00 p.m., Closing Ceremonies
William Sadorus (M), Dr. John G. Cramer, Cory Doctorow, David Hartwell, Tracy Knoedler, John Jude Palencar, Vernor Vinge

My latest Guardian column, “Does the BPI want MPs to debate the digital economy bill properly?” addresses the British Phonographic Institute’s weird, vehement silence on Parliament’s debate on its pet legislation, the dread Digital Economy Bill. Vehement silence? Oh yes.

Last week, the BPI sent me a vehement denial after I published a report that its spokesman had said that there was no need for further debate over the 24,000+ word bill, claiming he’d said no such thing (Parliament hasn’t debated the bill at all, and at present it seems like it’ll be rammed through with a mere afternoon’s debate). But when I asked whether the BPI believed the debate to date had been sufficient, they just ignored the question.

One long-serving MP told me that under normal circumstances, “a bill of this size would probably have a one-day second reading debate and then about 60 to 80 hours in committee, where it would be scrutinised line by line, clause by clause”. However, under the current accelerated schedule, “it will receive one day for second reading and at the very most, two hours in a committee of the whole house. The government will programme the debate so huge chunks of the bill might not receive any scrutiny at all…”

The BPI’s member companies stand to gain enormous power and wealth from this Bill – including the power to decide which British families are allowed to participate in digital society. They’ve written sections of it. They produce a weekly, in-depth status report on the bill’s progress (albeit these reports are somewhat loony: the leaked one suggested that the MI5 were behind the opposition!).

Are we to believe that they have no opinion on whether this bill has seen enough parliamentary debate?

Does the BPI want MPs to debate the digital economy bill properly?

Earlier this month, the UK publisher Bloomsbury (best known for having struck gold with the Harry Potter books, though also a real leader on the use of Creative Commons in publishing) invited me to give a talk to its staff over the lunch hour at its London office. I gave a talk about the theory and practice of book pricing in the age of the Internet, talking about the way that strategies that are focused on maximizing revenue from existing customers can cost you access to new markets. I got into the economics of distribution channels, DRM, lock-in, and talked about what I see as the top priorities for publishers looking to continue with their success in the Internet age. Bloomsbury video’ed the proceedings and have put it up on Vimeo. It’s licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, so go nuts!

One erratum: I was dead wrong about the German book market: prices there aren’t fixed by the state (I was confusing the German and Norwegian book markets), and Holtzbrinck made most of its fortune from news services, not trade book publishing.

Here’s me at yesterday’s Digital Economy Bill protest outside of Parliament in London, bellowing at the top of my lungs!

I’m absolutely tickled to announce that my novel Makers is up for the 2010 Prometheus Award, given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. My last novel, Little Brother won in 2009, and it was an incredible honor. Once again, I’m sharing the ballot with some tremendous books and authors, including Liberating Atlantis by Harry Turtledove and The Unincorporated Man by Dani and Eytan Kollin.