The best legal minds in the Bay Area returned after two years to once again gather in-person for EFF's 14th Annual Cyberlaw Trivia Night on June 16th. Participants from technology law firms and internet companies throughout the Bay Area attended for a night filled with obscure tech law trivia, delicious food, and just a dash of pop culture!

After attendees had piled their plates high with chicken and waffles in preparation for the evening's competition, the teams set their sights on the coveted Cyberlaw Quiz Cup. EFF's staff joined forces to craft the questions, pulling details from the rich canon of privacy, free speech, and intellectual property law to create six rounds of trivia.

Cyberlaw Trivia Night frosted glass award steins

The prizes!

After welcoming everyone to the event, EFF's Alberto Villaluna began the evening's activities by introducing our intrepid Quiz Master Kurt Opsahl, and our judges Cindy Cohn, Mitch Stoltz, and Mukund Rathi. The judges donned their very authentic robes and wigs, grabbed a drink, and the competition was on!

The General Round 1 questions gave everyone a chance to warm up their trivia muscles, with high scores across the board. However, it quickly became very clear that team "Slimemold" and team "formerly known as TBD" were perfectly matched. After a contentious Privacy & Free Speech Round 4, team Slimemold finally lost their single point lead to team TBD...for now. Determined to not be outdone, Slimemold tied the score back up in round 5. Both teams would remain tied until the end of round 6, which meant only one thing: tie-breaker time.

Following the traditional "Price is Right rules" format of closest to the answer without going over, both teams submitted their answers for the first tie-breaker question—and both failed to secure a winning point! Always prepared, Quiz Master Kurt presented a second tie-breaker question. The judges deliberated, tallied up the final score, and announced that team Slimemold had managed to answer the closest, securing their victory!

EFF's legal interns also joined in the fun, connecting with the remote EFF interns via Zoom laptop, though (as always) they were not eligible for the prizes.

To celebrate the winners, there was a champagne toast for everyone in attendance, and the evening concluded with a chance to mingle and chat (and grab some more food).

 Please join us in congratulating this year's trivia masterminds:

Team Slimemold holding 1st place award steins

Team Slimemold takes 1st place!

Team TBD holding the 2nd place stein

Team (formerly known as) TBD takes 2nd place!

EFF hosts the Cyberlaw Trivia Night to gather those in the legal community who help protect online freedom for their users. Among the many firms that continue to dedicate their time, talent, and resources to the cause, we would especially like to thank Durie Tangri LLP and Ridder, Costa & Johnstone LLP for sponsoring this year’s Bay Area event.

If you are an attorney working to defend civil liberties in the digital world, consider joining EFF's Cooperating Attorneys list. This network helps EFF connect people to legal assistance when we are unable to assist. Interested lawyers reading this post can go here to join the Cooperating Attorneys list.

Are you interested in attending or sponsoring an upcoming Trivia Night? Please email nicole@eff.org for more information.