First the good news: I'm thinking about throwing a Hackers 2.0ish party in early 2012. It probably won't be the same scale (maybe the its invite only and only backers who supported this project will know about it), but let me know if you have any connections to a killer venue :)

Second the bad news: in case you haven't heard, the Internet is being threatened by a piece of legislation called as SOPA. The bill is being marked up in Congress and might be voted on on Wednesday the 21st. If you've been ignoring all the SOPA news, please  take a moment to read up on it. You can start here or on Wikipedia.

The gist of SOPA is that it will give the content industry unprecedented control over black-listing websites they claim are hosting infringing content. There will be no takedowns, no arbitration, and no oversight. If SOPA were law when YouTube launched, they would have had their DNS records yanked and the site would never have grown into the platform it is today. While the MPAA and RIAA claim sites like YouTube and Twitter won't be targeted by legislation like SOPA, they're lying. SOPA will be abused, just like the DMCA is being abused today -- except this time the effects will be much much worse.

The incumbent content industry hates the Internet, they hate that their business models are being subverted by technology, and they are going to try everything they can to maintain their economic dominance over the way culture is disseminated. 

"If I were us, I'd get on the internet, send out a major distress signal. Hackers of the world unite."

So right now I'm remembering that scene at the end of Hackers where everyone calls up each other when they're mounting a concerted attack on the bad guys. 

Thats basically what needs to happen here, except this is real life and instead of hacking the Gibson, you have to call your political representatives and tell them to vote against SOPA. 

Which leads me to my new news, I've launched my third Kickstarter project, SOPA T-shirts:

█ ██████ SOPA ███ ███ █ ███ ███ ████ STUPID T-SHIRT

Check out the project here and buy a shirt if you'd like to support the cause. I'm hoping to ship them in February 2012.

Thanks and HACK THE PLANET!

So hot off the presses (or the bits or the internets or the whatevers) check out The New York Observer's article on our party:

http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/revenge-cyberpunks

And after tallying up all of our expenses, we're happy to announce I'll be cutting a check to the EFF tomorrow for $3,027.21.

Thanks again for your support AND HACK THE PLANET!

- Hackers Party Crew

PS: See you next year? 16 is such a better number than 15, after all.

Hope everyone had a grand time last night.

Jeff from Culture of Me just posted photos:

http://thecultureofme.com/nggallery/post/photos-hackers-15th-anniversary-party-on-october-2

Thanks again for your support,

Fred

Looking forward to seeing everyone tonight! Remember, follow @hackers_party on twitter for updates and information as the party goes on.

We also wanted to give a shoutout to Digital Fix, a local design / electronics boutique who is helping us out with an extra projector tonight. Thanks guys!

Check them out online or at their stores in Williamsburg or the Lower East Side:
http://www.dijitalfix.com/

So the party is almost here.

Here’s Venue / Location:

Shangri La Studio

100 Sutton Street (Between Nassau & Norman)

Getting there:
We’re going to have a minivan shuttling people from the Bedford L stop to the party venue all night in 20 minute shifts. It’ll be free and fits 7 people. It will be picking people up on the North East corner of North 7th and Driggs (take the Driggs avenue exit if you're coming on the L and you'll be right there).

You can either grab that or walk to the party. The other subway stop that is convenient is the G on Nassau. Check the map if you need fun icons and walking directions.

Instructions:
The entrance is easy to miss -- its basically a long alleyway with a chain link fence on the right and a building on the left (we’ll have a glowstick or two leading the way). Enter the alley and then you’ll turn a corner and go up a set of stairs, across a fire escape to the entrance room. Here you’ll give your Kickstarter user name and email address and get checked in.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU REMEMBER YOUR KICKSTARTER USERNAME AND THE EMAIL ADDRESS YOU USED TO PLEDGE -- THIS IS HOW WE WILL CHECK YOU IN.

The name you gave us is in the top right, and the email you used to register is here.

If your friends didn’t pledge they can buy tickets at the door for $20.

BONUS FEATURE: We bought a bunch of awesome cyberpunk clothes and will have a donation-based dressing room for you to try one on for the party. It’ll be open from 10pm to 11:30pm, so if you need a costume, show up early! We’ll also have Marianna Barksdale doing costume design and cyberpunk fittings.

Finally, we ask that you respect the party, your fellow revelers, and the venue (including keeping it a secret till the night of :) This is a special opportunity to celebrate a great (?) movie with your peers, so don’t be a n00b.

If you have any questions, hit up @hackers_party on Twitter and we’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

HACK THE PLANET>>>!!111