[ale] OT Electronic Frontiers Georgia

[Scott M. Jones]

There has been discussion around reviving Electronic Frontiers Georgia
given recent political changes.  Electronic Frontiers Georgia (EFGA) was
a local cyber-liberties activist group that was active from 1995 through
about 2007.

I'm currently canvassing to see if anyone would like to get involved.  I
am advocating one educational talk plus one "coffee shop" activist
meeting per month.  The educational talks are important as they help to
drive engagement.  I'd like to do topics that are curiously similar to
what I am now doing at DragonCon Electronic Frontiers Forums
(eff.dragoncon.org), with just one educational talk per month.

We are doing a kickoff event along with Georgia Tech this Monday.  The
time is designed for students (to attract student involvement) and will
not be very convenient for working professionals, but we hope to have
more events in the evening soon that will be easier for working
professionals.

In the past, EFGA's accomplishments were:

- Sued the state along with ACLU-GA to enjoin (stop) a law that could
have made it illegal to use pseudonyms on the Internet.  We were successful.

- Advocated against using the "Utah model" of electronic commerce (which
requires a state-managed certificate authority) and advocated FOR a
market-based, market-driven approach.  We were successful.

- Testified in state committee meetings to stop the "State DMCA" laws
which were copyright/technology control laws being pushed by the cable
and content industries with excessive, unreasonable penalties.  The
cable and content industries had attempted a state-by-state approach
when they could not get federal legislation passed.  We were successful
in stopping this.

- Attempted to stop state-level copyright legislation that makes it
illegal to record movies using handheld devices in a theater.  We missed
the committee meetings and were unsuccessful in stopping this.

Our first kickoff event will be this Monday on the Georgia Tech campus
at 4:30pm.  "Cyber Civil Liberties and the New Administration featuring
Hon. Bob Barr", DM Smith Building Room 105.  Event is free but parking
is not.

https://www.meetup.com/Electronic-Frontiers-Georgia-EFGA/events/237557979/

Thanks,
Scott