Pioneer-Awards-2018---9_27_2018_-9.08-PM [Abrupt beginning of recorded material] Aaron: Welcome everyone to the 27th annual Pioneer Awards, and we're just really happy to have you here tonight. I would like to [give a] special thank-you to this year's Pioneer Awards sponsors. That's Airbnb, Anonyome Labs, Dropbox, Gandi.net, Ridder, Costa & Johnstone, and Mr. Ron Reed. Thank you so much for supporting this evening’s event. [Applause] Aaron: [Special note]. There is a sponsor table on the back. So if you'd like some cool swag or some [great] T-shirts, we've got some stuff for you in the back. Again, I'm really [glad to have you here tonight] to honor three amazing leaders in online freedom. Before we commence, please make sure to silence all of your mobile devices right now. Thank you very much. Male Voice: [I love you, Aaron!] Aaron: So as one of your hosts this evening, I want you all to know that we take your comfort and safety very seriously. If you have any questions or need assistance during the event, please feel free to reach out to any of our event monitors. And tonight this is Amiee Kushner, Daniel O’Brien, Kurt Opsahl, and Rainey Reitman They're all ID'ed by a special badge that says "event monitor" on it. Or you can contact any of our staff members if you have any questions [throughout the evening as well]. This year we are proud to rededicate the Pioneer Awards to EFF co-founder, John Perry Barlow. So to [lead] the rededication, please welcome EFF's executive director, Cindy Cohn. [Applause] Cindy Cohn: Thanks, everyone. Thanks, Aaron. I'm so happy to see everyone here. We have such a strong community at EFF. I think that in times like these it's especially important to acknowledge that. We can all draw strength from this community. And I hope [meetings] like this help you as much as they always help me. As all of you no doubt know, EFF lost one of its founder this February, our own visionary, John Perry Barlow, who [unintelligible] both our cyberspace and our [meatspace], leaving us all very sad but also grateful for the time that we had with him as long as we did. Barlow was not only the founder of EFF, he was an active member of our board of directors for all of our [25 years], serving at the end of his life as the Rocking Chair for Internet Freedom, a title he made up for himself that we all agreed was appropriate. Barlow was one of the first people to see the potential of the Internet as a place of freedom where voices long silenced could find an audience and people could connect, regardless of physical distance. This was a radial vision at the time when a few people who knew about the Internet really felt that its contribution to society as a whole was going to be about the same as [unintelligible]. A few weeks ago I was at Harvard Law School for an EFF board meeting. And just outside the room where we were meeting, there's a hallway full of inspirational quotes from pillars of the law. There were quotes from Sir William Blackstone and Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Nelson Mandela. And there I saw properly in the midst of the them was Barlow asserting that with the Internet we were creating -- and I quote -- "a world that all ay enter without privilege or prejudice, accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth. A world where anyone, anywhere may express his beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity." [Applause] Cindy Cohn: Still gives me the chills. Barlow's vision so fundamentally drives EFF, although I would say the road has gotten much rockier as of late. The threats to Barlow's original vision of the Internet of the 1990s hasn't gone away. We're still fighting [the] free encryption and to ensure that copyright doesn't become the one law that rules them all. But we have a whole raft of new threats, some of which Barlow saw coming and some of which I think it's fair to say he did not. I've spent a bit of time in the last few months trying to help the world see past the straw man that is sometimes created around Barlow as a techno-utopian. It kind of drives me crazy, I admit. I mean it Barlow really believed that the Internet would magically fix everything and have no downsides, like why does EFF exists? We wouldn't need an EFF if this magic genie of technology made everything better. But that we exist, that we are bigger and stronger than ever, and that Barlow was a part of us for the past 25 years, I think are the stronger counter-arguments to that straw man. To honor John Perry's role in creating EFF, we were trying to figure out what would be appropriate because he not only had a role in creating EFF, he had a role in creating Internet freedom as a cause worth fighting for. We decided that one small thing we could do is rename our award statues after him, the Barlow. You know, movies have the Oscar. TV has the Emmy. Pop music has the Grammy. We thought internet freedom deserved that same. I've already had several past award winners ask if they can retroactively call their awards the Barlow. And I say the answer is yes. [Applause] Cindy Cohn: So to help us re-christen these awards tonight, two of John Perry's daughters, Anna and Amelia, are here. If you knew Barlow at all, you heard lots about the [Barlowettes]. With his illness and passing we've had a chance to connect more directly. And I really appreciate their openness and commitment to us as we try to carry the torch forward from here. So, Anna and Amelia, if you'll come up and help us christen this, it would be great. [Applause] Anna: Well, thank you so much, everyone, for being here. And we're so grateful to have been in San Francisco for this event to celebrate my dad and everything that he meant to EFF, which was a huge part of his life and something that he was incredibly proud of. [Anyone] [unintelligible] you didn't need to know him to know that had [his way of] weaving [worlds] together in many different [essences] of his life. He had incredible aspects that he brought people together [at] different elements, both figuratively and literally. And he also had a way with words. So in one moment when you think you're getting a lesson about the architecture of an [unintelligible] engine, you're also getting a lecture about true love and what that means. And [all] [unintelligible] strategy [is on World War II], and they seamlessly work all together. But he was truly proud of his work with the Internet and free speech, and it meant such an incredible amount to him. And so I just wanted to share this video that I stumbled upon recently. He would often use kind of terms and metaphors of tech and hardware and software in his understanding of life and the universe. So I thought [it was a sweet video] that we can watch before [Amelia] speaks. But thank you all so much. [Applause] [Video plays] [Applause] Amelia: All right. Well, that was the first animated video I've seen of him since he left this meatspace. I want to say welcome to each and every one of you. [It's a real honor to be here]. I want to say [thank you, Cindy], for being an amazing fearless leader [and] all that you do and how you [carry this main work forward]. And it's amazing when [in the past Cindy and I got on the phone], and it's like I found like a sister. It's like, "Ooh, you pushed him the same way I pushed him. That's great. Challenged him the same way." I really appreciate the way you steer the ship. It's really beautiful the way [that you're] [unintelligible]. I'm really honored to stand here today as his representative and one his many creations. He had so many creations. And I'm really proud to step into the footprints [of the long] [unintelligible] frontierspeople and frontier forefathers and foremothers of our [lineage] who are really pioneers. These pioneers really forged new frontiers into the great unknown [of full] space and thought. And this kind of spirit that he had and the people who have come before him, they really have two different things. They have a lot of courage, and they have the taste for freedom. Our beloved JPB was an accumulation of two really powerful pioneer lineages, which included three senators, the establishment of America, new religions, and a lot of new technology. So I just wanted to tell you a little bit about this crazy lineage that he holds. On his father's side was Norman Barlow, who was a senator. And on his gravestone it says "Rancher, Statesman, High Roller." [Unintelligible] of where he's coming from. He was a senator of Wyoming, and he also conceived of a new way of designing counties based on watersheds instead of political boundaries. [And I really appreciate that]. He was born from Israel Barlow and Elizabeth Barlow, who were the founders of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. They taught Joseph Smith and Brigham Young how to read and write and had a hand in writing the Book of Mormon, which is also very interesting. They brought [them] across America to found the Salt Lake City region, which I think is very important. On his mother's side he was raised by Miriam Jacobs Barlow Bailey, who was really a true matriarch of the Wild West. She would wear lipstick and curls while she was branding cattle. Her gravestone says "She'll give you the shirt off your back, but she'll tell you how to wear it." [Unintelligible] wearing her blouse, and she's very bossy. Her bumper sticker said "I'd rather be doing 200." When she woke up from her second mastectomy, my dad said, "Mom, how are you doing? How do you feel?" And she says, "Even." She was the first to graduate at the top of her class as one of the first women in that era to do so. She employed the first black schoolteacher ever in America. Her family was the first to [winter] that far west in Wyoming, the first to have a car. They invented the first semi-automatic rifle. So this summer, my sisters and I, we went after his passing to [Pinedale] to clean up some of the storage units of I wouldn't say hoarding, but [it was like that a little bit]. A lot more elk horns and rifles and things. I really started thinking about what it meant to be a good descendant of this lineage, as his quandary was really about what it meant to be a good ancestor. I started thinking about the spirit of the frontier and what it is to push the limits of the great unknown, what that responsibility might be. I started thinking about it a little bit more. I realized there's two different aspects of frontierswomanship and frontiersmanship -- if that's a word. I might've made it up. I'm not sure. And the first one I realized that he really took on in his life, which is to break away from everything that was known before [it], to create a new world of possibility. That to me was the declaration of independence for cyberspace. And declaring that place to be really free and open for everybody. He was dying for a long time. On his deathbed, he's confessing to me that no one really knew the consequence of such a powerful tool, the creation of this, what would that really mean? And so what I heard him asking me was to look at the different aspects of frontiersmanship and frontierswomanship. And the other form that I feel is really important and the pairing to this aspect of creating a completely new framework is to stand on the bedrock of the accumulated knowledge of all the people who have come before you. And to be really perceptive into the environment in which you enter. And that's also a really important [part and theme on] the frontier and being a pioneer, to really understand the consequences of your involvement and yet also see a really beautiful future before you. And so with this I feel like in this rededication, as I've talked to some of you about, I feel like what is really important as a descendent of this pioneer, in this information era, is the perceptivity and the respect and the wisdom that is needed. That is something that is really important as we carry forward and carry his legacy forward. And so as I [feel] into all of the people in this room, I really feel like those people are you. I really want to say thank you for setting forth into a potentially very dangerous uncharted territory and being the lighthouses for knowledge and for justice for the voiceless, for the protection of the future. And in that I really want to say maybe we all will be guided by the wisdom of those who have come before us and not forget what is true as a means of seeking a beautiful future with the long view, the long game, and all [beings] in mind. Thank you. [Applause] Cindy Cohn: Thank you so much. I want you all to know that I'm checking off an item on my bucket list right here because I am delighted and honored that Daniel Ellsworth agreed to join us tonight and to give us the keynote as we christen the Barlow. Barlow brought Dan into our orbit, soliciting him to the board of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which was founded by several EFFers and for which we still proudly serve as counsel. Dan has been, as the movie reminds us, the most dangerous man in America. He's also been a role model for many of us at EFF, variously speaking truth to power and revealing the truths of the powerful to the rest of us. His release of the Pentagon papers in 1971 exposed the extent of the U.S. criminality in Vietnam. He did this at great personal risk. Dan was charged with 12 penalty counts, a possible 115 years in prison before the case was dismissed due to very famous governmental misconduct. That would be enough for most of us, but Dan has been tireless in his support of other whistleblowers and is a voice opposing unnecessary government secrecy. It was Dan who helped me see why we have so few whistleblowers about the mass surveillance programs that EFF has been [finding] for so many years. After all, the government had been secretly running at least three massive programs for five years before EFF's first whistleblower, Mark [Kind] came forward. The phone records program, the Internet metadata program, and the [backdoor] surveillance, for those of you keeping score. And it was another eight years after that before Edward Snowden came forward and gave us the irrefutable evidence that we needed. Dan was explaining how national security works on a psychological level, that the ability to hide secrets and lie about them becomes part of people's view of themselves and their sense of belonging. He explained how being [read in] to secrets by the government led government officials to begin to believe that they were smarter than everyone else. And being part of the secrecy club is designed by the government not just to be a kind of contractual promise or an employment rule but to be an identity. This makes it far harder to step out of that identity, to tell the world what it needs to know. It also makes the steps that whistleblowers do take -- whistleblowers like Dan and Ed and Chelsea Manning, who I'm proud to say is with us [again] tonight, Thomas Drake -- [Applause] Cindy Cohn: Bill [Whinney], Jacob [Wheedy], Ed Loomis, and others are even more heroic when you recognize the stakes of what they did. This just interesting to me in an abstract sense, although I think that would be enough. Tomorrow, EFF will file an opposition to the government's latest attempt to dismiss our case challenging the NSA's mass surveillance of millions of innocent Americans and people around the world. Their argument is secrecy, that despite admitting that have subjected tens of millions of us to their surveillance dragnet, it's a state secret which tens of millions of us have been impacted. And that means the case must be dismissed for lack of standing. To me this is shameful. The American people and people around the world deserve at a minimum a public court decision about whether we are allowed to have a private conversation and private associations in the digital age. We deserve a voice in whether our networks are tapped and watched, regardless of the reason. But this secrecy cult remains our biggest barrier. I am happy to say that we have a new whistleblower in our filing tomorrow, another former AT&T technician names Phillip Long, who is responsible for routing all the AT&T circuits across California into 611 Folsom Street, where the NSA surveillance facility is. Drip by drip, the veil of secrecy is falling from the government's mass surveillance. But we're not done yet. But back to Dan. Sorry. I can honestly say that without you as a role model for breaking out of the secrecy cult, the NSA's mass surveillance programs would still likely be a secret to this day. And for that we all owe you a huge thanks. And of course Dan continues to tell us what we need to know, despite the cults of secrecy. His latest book is called The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. This time about the very fate of our planet being kept as a secret by the cult of secrecy. So without further ado, it is my great honor to introduce Daniel Ellsworth. [Applause and cheers] Daniel Ellsworth: Thank you very much. I was a little innervated as I came out here [and having spent about eight hours or so in front of a television set]. How many of you watched those hearings today? All right. [Todd Perry] [unintelligible]. It occurred to me that I hadn't gotten up at 7:00 in the morning to watch a Congressional hearing for 45 years, since 1973. In those days, on the West Coast, [I would hear them live], getting up first thing in the morning. And the replay for the West Coast. And then the evening -- I remember when Ford said, "Our long national nightmare is over." I'm thinking, this could have gone on forever. [This is horrible]. But it was a wonderful time. But then [29 years ago], which I remember was not such fun, we were living that today. If any of you remember Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas [talks] [unintelligible] we're seeing again. So in a rather somber mood I was driving in here with my friend [William Cubbings] thinking another guy lying his way onto the Supreme Court. [Not a wonderful] historic day. I believed Anita Hill then. I believe Cynthia Blasey Ford now. [Applause and cheers] Daniel Ellsworth: [Unintelligible]. There may be some Republican senators on that who really do not believe her, and they would be the same ones who deny climate change [unintelligible] basically. But it's a sad thing. I'm more familiar with lying in the executive branch. But [three branches] [unintelligible] Congress [unintelligible] [think about]. I remember when I first met John Perry Barlow was at a fundraiser of some sort. He came over and introduced himself and said -- showing his roots as a poet, as a lyricist -- he said, "You know, I think of you as a [revelationary]." Great name. And I haven't thought of that [unintelligible]. I should've been using it all these years [to some extent]. It's a lot better than "whistleblower." But this turns out to be one of the most exciting days of my life. [There's some] exaggeration, but it's one of those because at last after eight years I was able to meet my hero Chelsea Manning. [Applause] Daniel Ellsworth: Twice I was shown out of the courtroom, dragged out, once when I tried to [unintelligible] saw the back of her head, and before she could turn, I was being dragged out [unintelligible]. And another time [it goes on]. But I waited 39 years for her to appear [in this world] because I had hoped all that time, all the time there were admirable, worthwhile whistleblowers, leakers of various kinds, usually [of a] page or two or a few pages. Very hard to demonstrate that there really had been terrible [lies or] crimes covered up, [all of this]. Hard to do with just a small amount of pages. Because [unintelligible] would say, "Well, [that got] changed the next day. That was a lower-level subordinate who wrote that. Didn't know what they were talking about. They misinterpreted," and so forth. But Pentagon papers of 7000 pages of top-secret documents. [Unintelligible] [point of that] [unintelligible]. President Obama was asked early in Chelsea's proceedings -- somebody came up to her at a fundraiser here in San Francisco -- and you can see this on YouTube actually -- and said, "Didn't you then, Bradley -- didn't Bradley Manning do exactly what Daniel Ellsworth did?" And President Obama -- for whom I voted twice -- the president said to her, "Ellsworth's material was classified on a different basis." And that was true. Mine was 7000 pages of top-secret documents. Hers were all secret or less. [Laughter] Daniel Ellsworth: [Unintelligible] pursue that point. But of course it took the [cutting age] of technology [unintelligible] for me to put out 7000 pages Xeroxed. Actually there were people [unintelligible] my trial for discreet, fast copying [turn to Xerox]. But Chelsea could not have done what she did and Snowden of course except in the digital era of which John Perry Barlow was the prophet of the digital era. And that made it possible to put up hundreds of thousands of pages and really tell the story. Stories that could not have been told otherwise, like the illegal orders not to investigate torture by the Iraqis to whom we were turning over prisoners. That couldn't be demonstrated as a system with one or two examples. Chelsea revealed hundreds of examples [and] showing that there was a pattern that point right up to the commander-in-chief [in the prison] in 2010. And that was Barack Obama, which may have had something to do with why it took him seven and a half years to commute her sentence [on that. Did] [unintelligible] Barack Obama, [correct]? [Unintelligible] didn't demonstrate criminal activity [unintelligible], which [is] disastrous, foolish, crazy, genocidal in some ways. But not domestic crimes [unintelligible] Snowden and Chelsea Manning. So in Electronic Freedom Foundation, I have often said that I identify more with them as revelationaries than with any other people in the world. Of course that's why I've waited so long with such excitement to meet Chelsea. I did meet Snowden in Moscow actually with another member of the board, which Snowden and I -- [or John Cusack] who's on that board. And I've made many encrypted chat logs with Snowden, but I haven't had the chance to see Chelsea. And I really was very excited about that tonight. So it's a wonderful evening for me. And my wife will be very excited when she hears. She's heard me say so many times that I haven't been able to see her yet. So the board really started as far as I know with other board members now like [Amy Reitman], who is chairman of the Chelsea Manning Support Group. Her great supporter [unintelligible] also here tonight. But Trevor [Tam] and Remy and was talking to Ed Barlow and maybe some others. Probably Cindy [Cohen was in on that]. He said to me that Julian Assange who I didn't identify with in the same sense simply because he was a publisher, not a whistleblower himself. [I'd certainly prefer to] call him a revelationary, too, [I would say], but because he facilitated whistleblowing as did The New York Times and others like that, which Julian may well be the first of that community of journalists to be indicted. If the Ecuador embassy kicks him out, the British send him over here, it'll be a black day for the First Amendment and for journalism. But anyway at that point he had been boycotted for fundraising by [unintelligible] Bank of America, PayPal, I think -- every [other] group. Total boycott obviously inspired by the administration. And he said we've got to keep this going -- said John Perry to me. And, "Would you be a board member? We'll try to be a conduit along" -- [we gave] money to other people as well who were doing comparable things. Of course it's very hard to find other people doing comparable things. So actually EFF was key in getting and publishing the transcripts of the trial for Chelsea Manning, without which they would not have been available. So they were [unintelligible] that right from the beginning, not only [unintelligible]. And he wanted me to be on this board, which of course I was very happy to do, find a way to get money to Assange at that point while he was boycotted. Eventually that boycott [dwindled for a lot of reasons]. I don't know. I'm not entirely clear really. But it stopped. WikiLeaks had been the one group that we put on every month as a conduit for fundraising. [Unintelligible] went on for a period of a few months at a time. So that dropped in the permanent category. But on [unintelligible] another [unintelligible] -- imagine this -- Chelsea was [unintelligible] yet maybe. But in fact Snowden is on the board. And imagine being at the Freedom of the Press Foundation group here in San Francisco or [I'd be] with local people like Randy and Trevor and Cindy Cohen. And looking up at the screen for Skype or a Skype-like arrangement. And on the screen is Ed Snowden from Moscow, [Ora Poitress] at that time in Berlin, I believe, [unintelligible] [Glen Greenwald] from Brazil, John Cusack from Chicago -- and I've missed anybody -- but that was an impressive group. And of course to be part of that, that is an elite group that I am very pleased to be part of. So John Perry brought me into that, for which I've always thanked him. He was a wonderful human being obviously. And in fact, I could say he was a man that I regarded as having total, absolute integrity and a truth-teller and someone who wanted the truth [known in] general and for his wisdom and his experience despite the fact that I know he had been the chairman of Dick Cheney's election in 1978 in western Wyoming. Some would -- maybe his daughter would prefer I not mention [that] [unintelligible]. The fact is that he dropped, he broke with Cheney, having been close to him, over the question of [the MX], which was going to use most of the water in Wyoming for underground railroad that was going on it. You know, became properly critical of Cheney [unintelligible]. So I'm very happy to have had John Perry in my life and to be here. Thank you. [Applause] Male Voice: It was a wonderful honor to have you here. Thank you so much for doing that. So to present our first ever Barlow award, I would like to introduce EFF's legal director, [Corynne McSherry]. [Applause] Corynne McSherry: Hi, everybody. Welcome. I will join all the welcomes. I love the Pioneer Awards. This is one of my very favorite events because we bring together this awesome community of people. And then we get to recognize a bunch of even more awesome people that are [unintelligible]. So this is very exciting. I'm even more excited this year because we're rededicating it to someone who I consider a hero, as many of you do here, John Perry Barlow. Our first award, though, goes to a different hero, to another hero, someone I think of as [a fair use hero.]. And that is my client, [Stephanie Lenz]. So Stephanie Lenz is not a person who set out to be a hero, much less a [fair use hero]. But actually if you think about it, who would? I mean [if you don't think about] fair use that way -- fair use is a vehicle to doing other things, right? People rely on fair use to do things like create art or comment on the news of the day or share [the law] or tinker with products or investigate and make sure that they're not spying on you or to make a video of your kids to share [unintelligible]. That's what fair use is for. But Stephanie became a fair use hero. And it started pretty innocently when she posted a video clip of her kids dancing in the kitchen on YouTube so that their grandma across the country in California could see them. But as it happens, they weren't dancing to just anything. They were dancing to a Prince song, "Let's Go Crazy," a personal favorite of mine. And that song was played on a boom box on the counter. So just take yourself back. It's 2007. There's a boom box on the counter. [Laughter] Corynne McSherry: And it turns out that Prince, wonderful as he was, had a bit of a [blind] spot when it came to his music being online. He didn't want his music online in any context that he couldn't control. His representatives at Universal Music, one of the largest music companies in the world, sent a notice to YouTube accusing Stephanie Lenz of copyright infringement because of that song. That notice took advantage of a system that was set up under the Digital Millennial Copyright Act. The DMCA gives service providers protection from copyright liability if they take down content that they're told in infringing. Now, YouTube needed those safe harbors to survive. So it took the video down as soon as it got the notice, even though that video was a perfectly legal fair use. Back to Stephanie. Now, most people would be annoyed about this kind of takedown and wouldn't like seeing their work silenced online, but they'd probably be too intimidated to do anything about it. Stephanie Lenz is not most people. She decided to take another course. She decided to fight back. And she sued Universal Music Group for misusing the DMCA. When she made that choice -- [Applause] Corynne McSherry: When she made that choice she became [the] voice for the many thousands of users who have also had their fair use works taken down unfairly. Now, when she made that choice, she couldn't have known -- and I didn't -- that her fight would take a decade. A lot of people would have given up around year five, but Stephanie didn't. And as a result in the end she made history, establishing that rights holders can't send takedown notices without considering fair use and also that fair use is an affirmative right in the United States. [That was a new precedent]. As a result of that, her case is now taught in copyright classes around the United States and also around the world. [She did her part] -- [Applause and cheers] Corynne McSherry: Now, as you all know -- you're here. You know that EFF's legal team specializes in [unintelligible] litigation. A big part of that litigation, a big part of our mission, and a part that means a lot to me is defending online fair uses. And we do that work because we know that fair use is an essential part of our copyright system because it helps make sure that copyright doesn't block new creativity and new innovation. For years, we at EFF have seen copyright owners abuse the copyright system to take down fair use [and to] stifle innovation. We think that's a problem. But we can't fix that problem without great people like Stephanie Lenz who are willing to spend hours on planes, in legal offices, telling their stories, being grilled by opposing counsel, reviewing legal briefs, which of course [unintelligible] [are fascinating, but] -- Reviewing legal briefs to make sure we're getting it right. And sometimes even having parts of their private lives exposed to strangers. EFF can't do our work alone. We need clients like Stephanie to partner with us, sometimes for years at a time. That's exactly what Stephanie did. She was our partner. We were her partner. And I'd like to think we did a little good in the world. I know that she did a lot of good in the world. One last note. I've had people ask me why anyone would make such a big deal about a little home video. If you're going to have a fair use [unintelligible] why not focus on political speech, for example, or news commentary or [famous remixed] video? But to me the answer is really simple. Fair use isn't just for politicians and journalists and professional artists. It's not just for professionals. It's for everyone who wants to use the tools that we now have to tell their story. If we want a world where people can use those tools, where people can create and share all kinds of works, we need real fair use protections. And we need people like Stephanie Lenz to stand up and demand them. So it's my very, very great pleasure to give her this award. [Applause and cheers] Stephanie Lenz: Thank you. I'm the recipient formerly known as Plaintiff. [Laughter] Stephanie Lenz: I'm not a professor. I'm not a director. I'm not a lawyer, although that is the question I'm most often asked after, "Is that lawsuit still going on?" I'm a writer. I'm an editor, a wife, a mother. And I'm an activist. I became an activist because I'm mother. In the before times, we call it at home, I used YouTube to share video with friends and family. My kids [are really cute]. They're still being cute right there in the front. Holden had just started walking. And for him walking meant dancing. Meanwhile [Zooey] was [thrilled to find her brother to tear around with] as she likes to make clear, running around in the kitchen that day in February 2007 was her idea. YouTube pulled down the video after [getting] the DMCA takedown notice, whenever that was. I didn't know what to do. The counter-notice process at YouTube wasn't clear. One thing led to another, and I had a lovely and enthusiastic phone call with EFF [and a plan]. My father-in-law had a publicly listed phone number and ended up fielding calls from news organizations around the world, which tickled him to no end. But when my husband Patrick explained what was going on, his response was, "Oh, shit. They pissed her off, didn't they?" [Laughter] Stephanie Lenz: Yeah, they did. It's one thing to get angry. It's another thing to act. Eleven years ago, there wasn't much of a roadmap for standing up to the DMCA takedown notice, bogus as it was. To this day, people comment on my video and ask what they should do about their video that was removed. I tell them about the counter-notice process, which is now easy to find and navigate. Naturally I also point them toward EFF for more information about their digital rights, copyright, and fair use. That's not the question that I wished more people asked about all of this. Nor is it how old are the kids now? The answer is 12 and 13. They also ask what kind of music does Holden like. And the answer to that is Queen and Pink Floyd. He also enjoys Beethoven. The question I wish people were to ask would be how do I become an activist? [At] the back to school band uniform fitting event I attended with my daughter Zooey, some girls [and parent] at the shoe table were discussing the school dress code. And I nudged them by pointing out that there are more restrictions on girls' clothing than on boys' clothing. They agreed [and heightened] the conversation, exactly what I hoped for. I said, "You should write this down and go to the school board about it." They haven't yet. But [unintelligible] [someone out there supports] [unintelligible]. [Applause] Stephanie Lenz: A friend of mine, Christa, is currently pushing for metal detectors to be installed in schools in our district. And she's getting resistance from administration and from the community. And I've made it a point several times in talking with her in person about it and letting her know that she's supported and keep pushing this issue. I said, "They expect you to give up and let go. Do not let go." [Applause] Stephanie Lenz: I could say that I didn't choose to become an activist, but I did make that choice. I could've said, "Oh, well. They took it down." Instead I said, "Oh, no." I could have said, "I don't want to make a fuss." I said, "Yes, I will do TV interviews with my local NBC affiliate and Good Morning America and with Michelle Malkin on The O'Reilly Factor." With Corinne I may add. I will do radio interviews [from As It Happens] and on a morning zoo radio show, which I did while pulling my dancing toddler off the dining room table. I could've said, "There used to be a video of my kids on YouTube, but it was taken down." Instead I say, "Before sending a DMCA takedown notice, a copyright holder must consider fair use." [Applause] Stephanie Lenz: I could've chosen silence. I chose speech. Here's the great thing about the choice to become an advocate. Anyone can make it. If you're shy about it, remind yourself that these are your rights. If you feel alone, know that there are individuals and organizations that will back you up. If you don't know where to start, write a Tweet, an email, a letter, make a phone call, display a bumper sticker, wear a pin, wear a T-shirt, attend a march, donate to an organization that supports advocacy. [Laughter and applause] Stephanie Lenz: [As for] yourself, talk to anyone and everyone about your issue. Educate. Change minds. Be difficult. Do not let it go. For more than a decade, almost the entirety of my children's lives, I've felt that I found my people with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Passionate, driven, big-hearted, tough, understanding, intelligent, persistent, and patient. I want to specifically thank Cindy, Kurt, Melissa, [Eshaw], Jason, Marsha, Michael, and Corinne. People who have changed employers, gained titles, won awards, become their own practices while helping me stand up for our individual rights. I want to give a shout-out to everyone who has said some variation on, "I went to law school because of this case." This has moved me more than anyone can know. And the fact that I've heard it more than once is stunning, in a good way. I want to thank my husband and the stars of my video, [unintelligible] and Holden Alexander, you're the stars [unintelligible]. [Applause] Stephanie Lenz: Quoting Captain America, paraphrasing Mark Twain, "The nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself beside the river of truth and tell the whole world, 'No, you move.'" And if [unintelligible] tries to break you down, [go] [unintelligible]. [Applause and cheers] Male Voice: Thank you so much, Stephanie. Congratulations. We don't call it the Pioneer Awards for nothing. So you're a great example of that. And also if you'd like to find out a little bit more about EFF's work on fair use and [online] [unintelligible], I suggest checking out our Takedown Hall of Shame, because it's a good way to do that, and also onlinecensorship.org. Anyway, next I would like to present our next presenter, our international director, [Mr.] [unintelligible]. [Applause] Male Voice: I'm on such thin ice here. So one of the things that our next award winner is famous for -- well, "famous" isn't quite the right word -- is his famous avoidance techniques. I've never really met someone who is so popular and so respected and yet so compliment-denying. Every time I've ever seen anyone -- and I saw a whole room of people in Brussels this summer try to do this to Joe -- And I heard reports of a similar incident at [unintelligible] [Comm] in Toronto later this year -- every time I've seen someone attempt to tell Joe that he is a good man who does good things, it provokes such unwarranted dismissals of your opinions. Joe will insist in the face of a single compliment that you are deluded in some way, that you have made some terrible error of [naming], that you need to [meet some other] [unintelligible], that other people are entirely responsible for all his work, and frankly that your opinion or your facts count for nothing. To the point where a perfectly simple complimenting begins to feel like you're being personally insulted. So I know that -- I can see Joe is giving me dagger looks already. This was the most insulting way I could think of complimenting him, but I've clearly not got away with it. So I'm going to have to take the risk now and slip some truth bombs before Joe comes and denies everything that I say. So despite his famed avoidance, Joe has been one of the few people that you can describe in his adopted town of Brussels [slash Strasbourg] because for those of you who don't know, the European Union, which is where Joe does his work, moves I believe every full moon between Brussels and -- look this up. This actually happens. The entire European Parliament moves from Brussels to Strasbourg every month? Yes. Joe has to set his watch by that. His adopted town respects and loves Joe and knows [his name]. The reason why that is, is because Joe [holds] all the digital rights advocacy that takes place in this increasingly important center of power in the world together. I first encountered Joe when he was one of the very few people [sounding] against one of the EU's [unintelligible] into the regulation of the Internet, their data retention [directive]. At that time, digital rights was still developing its strength and its knowledge about how to engage with government. And really so was the European Union trying to understand its own place in the world. What that meant as a consequence is that the few people around Europe who could really talk to the risks and dangers of data retention, which for those of you who are interested in this kind of issue -- I see a few of you -- [was an attempt] basically for Europe to on the verge of its [unintelligible] to really effective and interesting privacy legislation, undermine all of that by insisting that ISPs and every element of the Internet actually record and keep track and store the data of millions of Europeans, compulsory. During that period, Joe, who represented the Euro [unintelligible], which was the ISPs' association, was one of the few figures who could gather together the technical knowledge, the political knowledge, and the [activist] [unintelligible] to stand up against that. It was important -- and I think those of you in the EFF community will recognize this -- that you bring those elements together. You bring together the people with legal expertise. You bring together the people with activist expertise. And you bring together the people with political [unintelligible]. You get them to work together. And one of the things that I've seen repeatedly across the world in EFF's work with our many partners around the world is that often those situations start with one person who embodies all three values. And Joe had that. Joe had the technical knowledge -- although he'll deny that. He has the activist knowledge. And he had the political knowledge. But there was just him. We didn't win then. But in the words of Stephanie, you just keep trying. And I'm pleased to say that the data retention law went up to the European [Code] of Justice, was struck down, and we succeeded over a number of years, largely down to the [unintelligible] work that Joe did. And that was just the beginning. For the next 10 years [that we speak up], the European Union did more exploration into this areas, good and bad. [It became more of a considered power]. And the [unintelligible] [importance] that people like Joe recognized very early on began to dawn on everybody else. So Joe did something that seems easy to say but is so rare in practice of not only taking what he knew and applying it to ensuring that important laws like the GDPR were not as bad or as crazy as many people set out to make them. He stopped terrible laws from being passed. He promoted and encouraged positive laws [from] being accepted. But most importantly he gathered together an army to do that. These days there's not just Joe in the European Union in the center of Brussels. He bonded together an incredibly disparate group. I think that we'll get you to agree on that. I've been in rooms where we've had members of European Parliament. We've had very skeptical and regulations-averse businessmen who've seen the European Union as something to be ignored or bypassed. And most importantly folks like the activist technologists [at the Chaos Computer Club]. And if you can imagine what those kind of [parties] are like, it's a very exciting [and innovative] thing. And Joe held them all together and trained a new generation of people to take that into [scale]. One of the reasons why Joe likes to stay out of the limelight is because he's always very intent on promoting the people around him. And Joe only accepted this award in our conversation if he accepted on behalf of his colleagues [unintelligible] and more widely than that because I can literally say -- we were just talking about this before the event -- that almost everybody who knows or acts and succeeds in Brussels has either worked for Joe, been mentored by Joe or inspired by Joe. Joe [McNamee] is an incredible force of nature in Brussels. And I know he'll be an incredible force of nature for liberty and human rights in whatever he does next. So I'm very honored to give this Barlow to Joe McNamee [and the European community]. [Applause] Joe McNamee: Anyway know who that guy is? [Laughter] Joe McNamee: So in Brussels it's now, I think, 5:00 a.m. And normally at 5:00 a.m. when I am imagining myself in a room with heroes being told how wonderful I am, I'm dreaming. So that makes this speech easy because maybe this isn't actually happening. [Laughter] Joe McNamee: And also thankfully, somebody already gave the speech that I wanted to give. And it's on YouTube. The acceptance speech for [Aaron Schwartz] a few years ago was given by [Torrance Steinbrucker Kaufman]. And she talked about the banality of evil. And watching that video, particularly watching that video today shows how insightful and how meaningful that speech was. So I recommend as homework that you go home and watch that video. And when you watch that video, be outraged that it's truer today than it was a few years ago. Be proud that you're part of a community that does not accept this banality. And be energized by your outrage to fight the good fight. So as [Danny] was telling you, European activism is a collective activity which brought together a lot of people over many years. When I left [Euro Spread] in 2009, I had certain impressions of the digital rights community. And one of them was from the software patents directive, which was brought down by the most amazing campaign you could ever imagine. It was a small group of wildly dedicated, energetic, passionate, [unintelligible] -- Male Voice: Welcome to Voiceover. Voiceover speaks [unintelligible] -- [Cheers and applause] Female Voice: [It is a dream!] Joe McNamee: At the end of the software patents directive, everyone was completely exhausted. You could have proposed sending the activists to the moon and leaving them there, and they wouldn't have the energy to oppose it. There was a lack of durability to activism because there was no central presence in Brussels to run campaigns on a durable basis. But it had existed from 2002. And in 2002, a group of wonderful people saw already that work was needed on [the] European level. And they founded [EDRi]. And they founded EDRi with the proper legal establishment in Brussels and started [cooperating]. And shortly after that, they set up the [Edringham], which is a remarkably popular newsletter that we sent out every two weeks. So in 2009, EDRi already had a reputation in Brussels and already had a registration in Brussels. So the work had been done for me to set the office up. So I did. So as Danny was explaining, everything that I've done has actually already been prepared by other people. And I would agree with it. Danny: [Told you]. Joe McNamee: And we had some remarkable successes in the intervening years. We had the overturn of [Navacta], which was an amazing [and improbable] success. [Applause] Joe McNamee: We had the rejection of mandatory Internet blocking. We had the unlikely success of having a net neutrality law in Europe. And as Danny said, we also got the general data protection regulation, which is far more exciting in reality than it sounds. And all of these took years and years and years of work, which was only possible because of having an office in Brussels. Because also of the input from member organizations like EFF, like [Fitzu Freedom] in the Netherlands, like all the other members. We grew from 28 members in 2009 to 39 members now. And now we're faced with bigger and bigger challenges. In particular, I'm not sure how many of you have heard of the copyright directive. But the copyright directive risks undermining everything that Stephanie was talking about, because it's not about unfair takedowns. It's unfair blocking of uploads in the first place. And it doesn't matter that it's fair use, because there is no fair use law in Europe. And if they have to block content, they're going to block it globally. Like, I don't know if you know this, but Google and Facebook [and the others] implement DMCA on the global level. And not alone -- we have to suffer your bad law. You're going to have to suffer our bad law. So, guys, it's time to get worried and get active about copyright directive, too. We also have a terrorism directive, which is actually even worse, a regulation, it just came out recently. So there's been a lot of progress in the last 20 years. There's a lot to do. As I was walking past a TV yesterday, I heard a politician saying "unusual courage." I'm not sure of the context. But it's a strange, wonderful privilege to be part of the community where courage is not unusual. It's a baffling pleasure and honor to be in a room with people of such courage. So thank you to EFF for having the idea of having an awards [unintelligible] because we don't reward our own, we don't recognize our own nearly enough. So thank you. And I am now looking forward to my next dream. [Applause] Male Voice: Thank you very much, Joe, and congratulations. So our final award of the evening is a bit of a special treat [unintelligible]. So our next award will be presented by Director for International Freedom of Expression [Julianne York], who's actually going to be calling in from Thessaloniki, Greece, with our next award winner and final award winner of the evening. [Applause] Julianne York: [Unintelligible] Since we can't see you, it's a bit hard to tell. Excellent. [Unintelligible]. Hi. So we're coming to you live from Thessaloniki, Greece. It's 6:45 in the morning. And we've both been up all night. So we're going to [keep ours brief]. I'm very, very happy to be [here with Sarah Roberts] [unintelligible] personally. [I] [unintelligible] a few years ago [unintelligible] content moderation and [unintelligible] there was a piece missing to the research and advocacy work that [unintelligible] [organizations] had been doing around platform censorship. And that missing piece was what Sarah's been working on, which is the labor, the human content moderation. Sarah [unintelligible] in building the Santa Clara principles on transparency, accountability, and content moderation, which EFF is also a part of. And she has a book coming out soon called Behind [the Scene]: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media. She also was a part of [a film] that came out that I hope some of you will soon have a chance to see called The Cleaners, which looks at content moderators for Facebook working [in the Philippines]. So [without further ado], I'm going to turn this over to Sarah. I'm very proud to present with the invisible today -- the invisible Pioneer Barlow Award. Sarah Roberts: Thank you. Good evening, everyone. [Unintelligible] [all right]. Thank you so much. I'd like to just acknowledge my fellow board members tonight and congratulate them on their [work]. I'd like to acknowledge [Mr. Ausburg]. I wish I could be there. And I would like to thank EFF and Julianne and everyone who was involved in this crazy scheme to come [meet me] in Greece, where I work and [am] participating in a conference regarding [unintelligible] content moderation. I guess when I look at the list of past award winners, it's humbling, shocking, and staggering. When I received the news of this award, I actually burst into tears of shock and just feeling humbled. It feels a little bit like a lifetime achievement award, which in a way is scary because I don't know how much I have left in me to do [things beyond] this. And I have a lot of [years to fill still]. I really appreciate Julianne's work on this issue and on all of the work that she's done. [Unintelligible] [each other over the years] in looking at content moderation, [virtual] content moderation from a number of angles: policy, governments, and also just the piece that I look at, which is the work life of the people involved and who are tasked with implementing these hidden policies. And they themselves are often [hidden] by design, quite frankly. As you know, platforms have been reluctant to be accountable for both the policies and the [labor commissions] under which these people work. So I guess what I would say is in accepting this award, such a great honor. I will also have to just say it goes to elevate the profile and elevating the experience to these workers that have been hidden for so long. And I'm indebted to all of those people who did things like violate NDAs to talk to me over the years about the conditions under which they work and the policies that they implement. [Unintelligible]. Thank you so much for letting me join you virtually because I really [unintelligible]. Thank you so much, [unintelligible]. [Applause] Male Voice: Thank you so much. Well, I wanted to thank everyone tonight for coming and making this -- Male Voice: Welcome to Voiceover. [Laughter] Male Voice: It's cool. It's fine. So, again, congratulations to all of our honorees this evening. And thanks again for being here with us tonight. And also thank everyone in the room for helping us to rededicate this year's ceremony and future ceremonies to John Perry Barlow. And in fact, if you have some time this evening or even later on, we invite you to share your memories of John Perry Barlow, whether they are personal memories or things cool that happened to you while you were listening to one of his songs, reading his books. Like honestly I've met so many people who have been inspired either indirectly or directly by Barlow. So we would love to have you share your stories. If you do that, there's a computer over here. Or even on your own device at eff.org/rememberingbarlow [unintelligible]. And once again, thanks to our sponsors this evening, Ridder, Costa & Johnstone, Airbnb, Dropbox, Gandi.net, Anonyome Labs, and Mr. Ron Reed. And we have the room until 10:00. So please stick around. Come talk to any of the EFF staff members, learn a little bit more about what we do. And it's only possible thanks to the support of folks like [you in the room]. So thank you so much. [Have a good day]. [Applause] [Background conversation] [Music plays] [End of recorded material]