My latest Locus Magazine column is What the Internet Is For: it describes the revolutionary principle (end-to-end communications) and technologies (general purpose computers, strong cryptography) that undergird the net, but also cautions that these are, themselves, not sufficient to revolutionize the world.
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I was one of the keynote speakers at last week’s Ethereum Devcon in Prague, where I gave a talk called “Decentralize, Democratize, or Die,” about the way that bad tech policy (crypto backdoors, the DMCA’s ban on security disclosures, etc) come from weak states where the super-rich get to call the shots, and how things like money-laundering creates these weak states. The core message: if you don’t figure out how to make more pluralistic, less plutocratic states, you will never get the kind of information security you need for your blockchain systems to thrive.
I’m in Berlin today, promoting the German edition of my novel Walkaway: the kindly folks at Otherland Books are hosting me tonight at a free event at DTK Wasserturm, where I’ll be presenting with Marcus Richter. Hope to see you there! Tell your friends!
I’m going to be in Berlin next week to promote the German edition of my novel Walkaway: I’ll be appearing at DTK-Wasserturm from 20h-22h, sponsored by Otherland Books. Entry is free — I hope to see you there!
I’ve just closed a new book deal: Tor Books will publish “Radicalized,” which tells four stories of hope, conflict, technology and justice in the modern world and near future in March 2019; along with the book deal is a major audiobook deal with Macmillan Audio and a screen deal with Topic Studios (a sister company to The Intercept) for one of the tales, “Unauthorized Bread.”
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It’s been two years since I last sat down with Jason Klamm for his Comedy on Vinyl podcast (we were discussing Allan Sherman’s My Son, The Nut); we were past due for a rematch.
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I’m heading to the east coast next week, first for a lecture series in NYC for Columbia University (including a conversation with Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad about Big Tech, monopolies and democratic technology); and from there I’m headed to Pennsylvania for a talk about my novel Walkaway at Swarthmore, on Sept 28 from 7-9PM at the Lang Performing Arts Center Room (LPAC) 101 Cinema. All the events are free, though some require tickets, so be sure to check in advance. Hope to see you there!
Here’s my reading (MP3) of Today, Europe Lost The Internet. Now, We Fight Back, written for EFF Deeplinks on the morning of the EU’s catastrophic decision to vote in the new Copyright Directive with all its worst clauses intact.
Angelenos! Bring your teens to the Pasadena Loves YA festival this Saturday; I’m chairing a panel on graphic novels with Mairghread Scott and Tillie Walden; other panels and events go on all day, from 11-4PM, at the Central Branch of Pasadena Public Library, 285 E Walnut St, Pasadena CA 91101. Admission is free!
My latest Locus Magazine column is Big Tech: We Can Do Better Than Constitutional Monarchies, and it’s a warning that the techlash is turning into a devil’s bargain, where we make Big Tech pay for a few cosmetic changes that do little to improve bullying, harassment, and disinformation campaigns, and because only Big Tech can afford these useless fripperies, they no longer have to fear being displaced by new challengers with better ways of doing things.
