The rate of technological innovation accelerates at an exponential pace every year, and yet it seems the laws we pass to regulate these new technologies struggle to keep up, leaving our rights and the smooth functioning of our society at risk. From the abolition of net neutrality and demands for encryption backdoors in our secure communications to such outlandish and ill-advised proposals as link taxes and impossible-to-implement copyright filters, we see our politicians proposing policies that leave experts in their respective fields shaking their heads in dismay. The lack of elected officials with professional backgrounds and experience in the technology sector leaves our legislators woefully unprepared to fully understand the implications of the laws they are passing, forcing them to defer to well-funded industry groups who may not always have the public’s best interest in mind. To ensure that our laws around emerging technologies are written with the expertise necessary to enshrine and preserve our rights, it is vital that industry leaders in these fields answer the call to civic service.
Join EFF-Austin for a tech policy panel discussion on October 12th from 3:30pm-4:30pm at B.D.Riley’s on 6th with the Steven Kling for Texas Senate and Joseph Kopser for Congress campaigns, where we will discuss over beers how their backgrounds in the technology sector give them the knowledge and expertise to craft the laws that the 21st century will require.
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https://www.meetup.com/EFF-Austin/events/254953109/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1806972862705910/
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