On Sunday, January 19, 2003, at 09:08 PM, Declan McCullagh wrote:

I suspect would be silly to stage an anti-DMCA protest against an invited speaker to that Stanford class. Lessig, Gilmore, Barlow, Farber, and Stallman have been speakers (and I'm scheduled to be in the spring lineup).

At the very least, it makes sense to find out more about the program and have a cordial conversation with the organizers before rushing to stage a demonstration. Activist-hours are a scarce resource; use them prudently, carefully, and wisely.

I've been to a few of these, and once spoke at one, circa 1993. IMO, nearly worthless. Thinking about how little can get covered in an hour at a Cypherpunks meeting, imagine what happens in any particular one hour of one of these things: just enough time to establish a few basic points, hit on some of the current issues, and take some questions. For the actual students, not so bad, as they're getting 15 or so of these lectures per semester, and the intent is to provide a survey of topics. (Strangely enough, 15 times "nearly worthless" is OK...for a survey class!) The point is that anyone already familiar with the topic or the issues will not learn anything. Which leaves arguing with the speaker as the only reason for going...and arguing with the speaker is not worthwhile, given the extreme constraints on time. And given the usual pointlessness of arguing with others. --Tim May