Be a guide for tech giving

Flyer Handout

In the flurry of holiday advertising that happens at the end of the year, many people are swept into buying electronics gifts that are rotten with Digital Restrictions Management, and restrict their users in other ways as well. Our Giving Guide is designed to make it easy for you to choose tech gifts that respect recipients' rights and avoid those that don't. But to have the greatest possible impact, we also need you to spread the word about ethical tech this season.

This guide is an easy-to-use resource that can make a difference in what people buy. We just need to get it in front of them, and we're doing that with events called Giveaways.

Can you spread the word by organizing a Giving Guide Giveaway in your community? Get started now with our primer. (It's hosted by our parent organization, the Free Software Foundation.)

Giveaways are public meet-ups where we gather to hand out our attractive Giving Guide flyer to holiday shoppers trying to decide which electronics to pick up. By having face-to-face interactions with people in your area, you'll be getting your message across far more effectively than we can by talking about it online. And you'll be building our activist community as well, as you meet and make friends with like-minded people in your area. The flyer is available in multiple languages, but more translators are needed.

Defective by Design/Free Software Foundation is organizing our own Giveaway in the Boston area on Wednesday, December 16th. If you're in our area, we'd love to have you join us! See the details and RSVP.

We've created a primer to get you started organizing a Giveaway. Get a few friends together for a small Giveaway, or make a splash with a big one -- it's about spreading the message this season in whatever way is best for you. If you aren't able to get people together for the Giveaway, you can have an impact just by printing out some flyers and leaving them at your office or a community space. Check out the primer now, and organize your Giveaway!

One more thing: a key Defective by Design directive is to educate people about DRM, so that they can be empowered against it. With the Giving Guide, the International Day Against DRM and our internship programs through the Free Software Foundation, we go offline and use face-to-face interaction to light a fire of knowledge and ethical conviction in those we touch. The impact is multiplied when each member of our community lights the flames of others. But as powerful as we are together, we cannot keep our flame burning without financial support. If you can, please donate today, and carry us towards our goal of $450,000 by January 31st. To sustain our work year round, and give us a strong base to build from, take the next step and become an associate member of the Free Software Foundation. Membership is only $10 a month, and student memberships are discounted.

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