Film Fest: “Deep Web” a Film About ‘Silk Road’, with Cindy Cohen

Deep Web, a film about “Silk Road” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace), online communications and commerce, is to be screened at SF International Film Festival. Cindy Cohn, legal director of EFF is scheduled to appear at the 9:00 PM, May 4 screening.  More information below and at:  http://www.sffs.org/sfiff58/program/deep-web#.VUQAtqbVmJ0.

-Art

• About the film:
• Director Alex Winter, a well-known actor and a leading advocate for an open internet, lucidly investigates the implications of online technologies and the gray legal areas of anonymous communications and commerce by focusing primarily on the history and demise of online black market website Silk Road. In addition to documenting the federal trial of Silk Road’s purported founder and owner, San Francisco-based Ross Ulbricht, allegedly known to Silk Road’s users as the Dread Pirate Roberts, Winter weaves in the perspectives of futurists, journalists and legal experts. A bastion for privacy advocates and cybercriminals alike, the “deep web” refers to a place on the internet where cutting-edge technologies mask participants’ identities and facilitate secret activities. As such the deep web exposes the contradictory goals and potential conflicts between free speech advocates and government regulators. Winter’s previous documentary, Downloaded deftly detailed the history and impacts that online file sharing has had on culture, the law and music/media industries. With Deep Web, Winter presents a perfect companion piece while telling a true story of espionage, surveillance and activism taking place at the digital frontier. �Sean Uyehara
• Director Alex Winter (May 3, May 4) and presenters John Perry Barlow (May 4), Susie Cagle (May 4) and Cindy Cohn (May 3, May 4) expected to attend.