Nerd Nite Austin 156: EFF V2 - More Talks from the Electronic Frontier

Nerd Nite Austin is excited to present another slate of talks by members of EFF Austin. The last time was over five years ago and we are ready for more!

Join us in person at Barrel O' Fun (the bar in the lobby of the Alamo Drafthouse Mueller), or watch our livestream at https://twitch.tv/nerdniteaustin

Show is always free, so arrive early to get a good seat.
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"Section 230: The Twenty Six Words That Created The Internet" by Kevin Welch

Those that follow political news, specifically around online content moderation and website liability, may have seen politicians on both the right and the left arguing that Section 230 is to blame for the current dire state of the internet. But what actually is Section 230, and why has it become a lightning rod for such debates? In this talk, Kevin Welch will explain the legal history of the only portion of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) that the Supreme Court found to be constitutional, and why he believes it is not an exaggeration to say that without Section 230 online discussion and conversation as we know it might entirely cease to exist.

Kevin Welch is the current president of the board at EFF-Austin, an Austin-based digital civil liberties organization. He engages in public education and political advocacy around the ways that technology, the law, and society intersect.
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"Watching your Every Move: Surveillance and Choreography" by Molly Roy
What do dance and surveillance have to do with one another? In this talk, Molly Roy will take up this question, highlighting the work of contemporary dance artists who have explored themes and technologies of surveillance in their work. She introduces what she calls choreographies of surveillance, a way to recognize and understand surveillance as a movement technology that monitors, evaluates, predicts, and produces choreography.

Dr. Molly Roy is the Performing Arts Librarian at UT Austin. She is a performance scholar-artist, educator, choreographer, and dramaturg.
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"Surveillance and the Smart City" by Sharon Strover
There is a lot of enthusiasm around being a 'Smart City' these days, with little thought to what types of technologies that term implies. Sharon will talk about typical smart city technologies, particularly those that residents might encounter in their everyday lives, and what they might mean for surveillance and for privacy.

Dr. Sharon Strover is a professor in the College of Communication where she teaches communication technology and policy courses and co-directs the Technology and Information Policy Institute. She is a founding member of Good Systems, the UT-Austin Grand Challenge research project examining ethics in AI.