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Talk Intermediate CC BY SA 4.0

Freedom to code - Community's role in tech Policy

Proposal status is Approved
Session Description

Speaker: Mishi Choudhary — Technology lawyer and Founder, SFLC.in.

When SFLC.in was started in 2010, the focus of the organisation was on providing support to free software developers. However, we later realised that an Open Internet is essential for the community and that is when we got involved in activities that support rights of citizens in the digital space.

Most FOSS conversations focus on what we build. Far fewer address who gets to decide the legal terms under which we build it — yet tech policy quietly shapes everything from the patents that threaten a project to the regulations a community must navigate.

One of the important issues that SFLC.in has been involved in is software patents. This has a great impact on your freedom to code, but even an important issue like this has not seen active involvement by the community.

Similarly issues relating to website blocking, content take-down, intermediary liability and internet shutdowns are all important matters that impact developers in particular and citizens in general.

The talk will focus on how the community can get involved in such discussions and advocacy.


Key Takeaways
  1. Why tech policy advocacy matters, and why developer communities are too often absent from the table.
  2. How organisations like SFLC.in can help the FOSS community to understand tech policies and respond
  3. Ways in which communities can organise and advocate for changes in policies.

References

https://sflc.in

Session Categories

Technology / FOSS licenses, policy
Talk License: CC BY SA 4.0

Which track are you applying for?

Main track

Speakers

Mishi Choudhary
Mishi Choudhary Founder | SFLC.in

Mishi Choudhary found sflc.in in 2010. She served as its President, and Legal Director until 2017, after which she resigned from the organization. She is a technology lawyer and an online civil liberties activist with law practice in New York and New Delhi. The Open magazine calls her an emerging legal guardian of the free and open internet. She is currently the SVP and General Counsel at Virtru, a global data encryption and digital privacy provider.

Under her direction, SFLC.in became the premier non-profit organization representing the rights of Internet users and free software developers in India.

In 2015 she was named one of the Asia Society’s 21 young leaders building Asia’s future. In 2016 she was inducted into the Aspen Global Leadership Network by the Aspen Institute. She advises Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression project and serves on the Board of IFEX and Global Network Initiative.