Spill the beans

I may as well spill the beans, then:

I alluded to an announcement pertaining to me and eff-austin.. so here goes.I have been offered and graciously accepted a seat on the Board of Directors for Electronic Frontier Foundation – Austin.

EFF-austin has a rich and deep history for the geek community here. It garnered national attention and sparked discussion about how technology broadly affects our society.

EFF and EFF-austin have been at the center of issues like copyright of digital media, laws trying to curtail hacking, censorship, privacy, and limits of freedom of expression.

EFF is involved anywhere that advances in technology, innovations, and inventions impact our rights in this society.

For a while, the organization in Austin went dormant (for a variety of reasons), but it is now undergoing a rebirth under the direction of people like Jon Lebkowsky and Steve Jackson (original founders and participants).

I’m glad to be joining this effort for multiple reasons.

Primarily, as an “emerging artist and inventor,” I recognize my right to innovate, to invent, and to have access to information that will help me create is critical; it’s my responsibility to help out individuals who are working on these issues.

Second, I think I can offer support and expertise in organizing outreach events. I want average joe-blow to understand how the technology they use or the content they access affects their lives and their community. With technology comes responsibility. Most valuable to the group, I think, I have unique connections with my day job that will help reach the emerging technologists and artists in our community as well as tie together some Austin-area community groups, educators, and government.

Finally, eff is a high-profile organization (when it’s active, that is). For personal, self-serving reasons, I would be incredibly excited to drive activity and successes in such a public forum. Just the networking opportunity alone is more than worth the long hours I intend to give.

I’m still drafting a “manifesto” which I’ll be sharing here and on various eff-related spots that I hope will better explain my perspective on making these issues more accessible to a broader range of people.

There. Ta-da.