---
title: Seize the Means of Computation
osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2021/program/proposals/864
beginning: '2021-11-06T16:30:00.000-07:00'
end: '2021-11-06T16:50:00.000-07:00'
keynote: true
resources:
  internet_archive_identifier: SeaGL2021-Cory_Doctorow-Seize_the_Means_of_Computation
presenters:
- name: Cory Doctorow
  osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/users/1207
  gravatar_id: bdba5f528ac189c448ba674f1d3f0286
  biography: Cory Doctorow ([craphound.com](https://craphound.com/)) is a science fiction author, activist and
    journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently RADICALIZED and WALKAWAY,
    science fiction for adults; HOW TO DESTROY SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM, nonfiction
    about monopoly and conspiracy; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture
    book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. His latest book is ATTACK SURFACE, a standalone
    adult sequel to LITTLE BROTHER; his next nonfiction book is THE SHAKEDOWN, with
    Rebecca Giblin, about monopoly and fairness in the creative arts labor market,
    (Beacon Press, 2022). In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction
    and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
---

After a year of lockdown, there can no longer be any question as to whether digital rights are human rights. The internet is a single wire that delivers free speech, free assembly, education, family life, romance, parenting, employment, access to politics and civics, to tools and ideas, to community and the public sphere.

And yet, technological self-determination is farther away than ever. Open source means nothing without software freedom (who cares if you can see the source to applications whose essential cloud components you can't modify?). Interoperability is criminalized in new ways every day. A single corporate account termination can cost you your media, your email archives, your mobile device, and even brick your thermostat and doorbell.

Time is running out to seize the means of computation and safeguard the power of tech to give us more control over our lives.
