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Written by Scott M. Jones
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Saturday, 02 August 2025 17:45 |
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Subject to change without notice. Please check back frequently for the
latest updates.
Thursday, August 28, 2025
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Time |
Program |
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7:00 p.m. |
Georgia Tort Reform 2025
The state of Georgia pushed through a package of changes to
tort law under the guise of "tort reform". Do these changes
establish a more fair balance for all parties, or do they only favor
wealthy defendants and insurers?
Ron Daniels (moderator), TJ Mihill, Cory Scott Rosenberger
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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8:30 p.m. |
Hill Climbing: A Cryptoanalytic Technique
In this talk, Elonka goes over the cryptanalytic technique of hill-climbing, and how it is being used to crack historical ciphers,
though many still remain unsolved.
Elonka Dunin
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
Friday, August 29, 2025
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Time |
Program |
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10:00 a.m. |
Apple Disables End-to-End Encryption in the UK
The UK government recently issued a demand letter to Apple,
under the UK Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, requiring that Apple put secret backdoors in its Advanced Data Protection security layer. Apple responded by removing the layer entirely rather than compromise their users.
Kurt Opsahl (moderator), Rich Gatz, Isaac Sheff, Bill Budington
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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11:30 a.m. |
Update on Georgia Speed Cameras
Despite public outcry, measures to rein in unpopular speed cameras in the state legislature this year were watered down, and then still failed to pass. We'll take a look at the controversy, and what ultimately happens with the funds collected.
Ron Daniels (moderator), "The Geek Lawyer" Dutton, Hayley Tsukayama
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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1:00 p.m. |
Cryptocurrency Legislation: Recent Trends
The new administration has promised to give the up and coming cryptocurrency industry a fairly free hand with regard to securities regulation enforcement and regulation generally. A recent proposal in the spending bill also bans states from regulating cryptocurrency for 10 years. Caveat emptor?
TJ Mihill (moderator), Kurt Opsahl, Isaac Sheff, Rich Gatz
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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2:30 p.m. |
Collinson Ads: 19th-Century Encrypted Ads from the London Times
From 1850-1855, special encrypted ads appeared once a month in the London Times. They seemed to be targeting the same recipient and topic. What were they, and what did they have to do with the Franklin Expedition, lost on its search for the Northwest Passage? Elonka Dunin has decrypted them all.
Elonka Dunin
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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4:00 p.m. |
China Hacks CALEA Back Door: What Is the Lesson Here?
Last year it was announced that government-mandated backdoors were breached by Chinese hackers, proving that a backdoor for one eventually becomes a backdoor for all. What
can we learn from this incident?
Kurt Opsahl, Andrew Karl Hirsch (moderator), Isaac Sheff, Bill Budington
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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5:30 p.m. |
License Plate Readers, Bumper Stickers, and Vehicle Fingerprinting
License plate readers are already pervasive in cities
and rural areas across the state. New features will read more than
just the plate, fingerprinting the back of the entire car and matching
that up with data from data brokers and AI. Is all of this legal and
constitutional?
Xavier Ashe, Cory Scott Rosenberger, Jon Padfield (moderator), Sarah Philips
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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7:00 p.m. |
How Border Surveillance Tech Becomes Everywhere Surveillance Tech
Surveillance technology, originally built for foreign
countries or the U.S. border, is finding its way onto streets all
across America.
Xavier Ashe, Hayley Tsukayama (moderator), Nash Sheard, Sarah Philips, Dwayne K. Goetzel, Amon Otis Poston
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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8:30 p.m. |
Neuralink Update: Seven Human Subjects So Far
As a followup to last year's panel, we'll cover Neuralink, which is developing implantable brain-computer interfaces, its latest additional human subjects, and its growing list of potential competitors.
Jessica Cail (moderator), Phillip Pournelle, Jon Padfield, Cory Scott Rosenberger
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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10:00 p.m. |
WebComics
A behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a successful web-based comic strip series, given by established webcomic artists.
Bill Holbrook (moderator), Jennie Breeden, Comfort Love, Adam Withers
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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11:30 p.m. |
OnlyFans and Beyond: The Legal & Practical Side of Adult Content Creation
OnlyFans and similar platforms are highly popular, and sometimes controversial. What are the legal requirements for creating ethical adult content (such as age checks and 18 USC 2257), and what are the practical considerations?
Faydra Black, Andrew Greenberg (moderator), TJ Mihill, Amanda Bunny Aug, Catieosaurus
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
Saturday, August 30, 2025
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Time |
Program |
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10:00 a.m. |
Removing Personal Information About You From Google
Google now has a form to request that your personal information be removed from search results. Is this the only way to have your information removed, or are there other steps you can take?
Bill Budington, Hayley Tsukayama (moderator), Heidi Tandy
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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11:30 a.m. |
Google Anti-Trust Remedy: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do?
The Department of Justice continues to pursue a case
alleging an illegal monopoly in search engine results. Is breaking up the
company a legal and reasonable remedy, similar to the AT&T breakup
in the 1980s? If not, are other remedies available?
Matthew Lane (moderator), Lee Tien, James P. Nettles
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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1:00 p.m. |
Age Verification Lawsuit: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Age-gating, or 'Flash your ID for the camera' laws, are rapidly becoming a legislative panacea worldwide to control what content is presented to children. The lawsuit 'Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton' challenged the assumption that age-gating is safe, convenient, reasonable, or constitutional.
Matthew Lane, Lee Tien, Dwayne K. Goetzel (moderator), Tatiana Rice, Sarah Philips, Ron Daniels
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD
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2:30 p.m. (4 Hours) |
Learn to Hack Workshop
Beginner hacker? Never tried hacking before? Try your hand at the following stations for 2025: 1) Lockpick mini-village; 2) Introduction to Hacking discussion; 3) Capture the Flag [dedicated wi-fi cyber range]; 4) Ask a Pentester. Unstructured— Come any time/leave any time during the event.
Stephen Kraus (moderator), Roger Whyte, Charlie Jackson
Marriott A601-602, Attendance: TBD |
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2:30 p.m. |
Famous Unsolved Codes
Each year at Dragon Con, Elonka Dunin, our resident expert on unsolved codes, gives a talk on famous and not so famous unsolved codes. And then by the following year she has to rework her talk as some of those codes get solved!
Elonka Dunin
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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4:00 p.m. |
How AI is Aiding the Immigration Crackdown
We'll take a look at how artificial intelligence is being used for immigration enforcement, and how these techniques may be used in domestic law enforcement in the near future, if not already.
Tatiana Rice (moderator), Matthew Lane, Dwayne K. Goetzel, Greg Hodgin
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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5:30 p.m. |
Cell Phone Bans in Schools
State legislatures are quickly lining up behind efforts to ban cell phone use by students in schools. Why are these laws necessary, and why can't school districts, teachers, and principals set their own policies?
Jon Padfield, Nash Sheard (moderator), Dwayne K. Goetzel
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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7:00 p.m. |
Hacking 101
Hacking 101 returns for another glorious year! Just what is a hacker anyway? Culture, history, contacts, resources, and pointers for more info.
Dustin Smith (moderator), Rich Gatz, Amon Otis Poston, Xavier Ashe, Jeremy Wagner, David Formby, Buddy Smith
Hilton Crystal Ballroom, Attendance: TBD |
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8:30 p.m. |
How the TikTok Ban Backfired
We'll explore why the U.S. government banned TikTok, what the result of the Supreme Court decision was, and why the ban is suspended even today. We'll also talk about the lessons that should be learned for future Internet regulation.
Xavier Ashe, Ron Daniels, Sarah Philips, Dwayne K. Goetzel (moderator), Amon Otis Poston
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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10:00 p.m. |
Thought Experiment: Write the Privacy Policy for Star Trek's Transporters
As a fun exercise, let's think about the major privacy issues involved if Star Trek's transporters were real (let's assume all of the safety issues are handled automatically by the system). What policies should Star Fleet adopt to protect our privacy?
Kurt Opsahl, Courtney Lytle, Isaac Sheff (moderator), Hayley Tsukayama, Ruth Suehle
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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11:30 p.m. |
10 Rules for Dealing with Police Encounters
Knowing and asserting your rights along with common sense can greatly improve the outcome of any police encounter. This is a documentary from flexyourrights.org. A question and answer session will follow the film.
Andrew Greenberg (moderator), Cory Scott Rosenberger
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
Sunday, August 31, 2025
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Time |
Program |
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10:00 a.m. |
STUXNET: Unraveling the Cyber Weapon That Shaped History
This talk delves into the fascinating history and timeline of the STUXNET attack, tracing its origins, development, and unprecedented impact on Iran's nuclear program.
Andrew Karl Hirsch, Ray Kelly (moderator)
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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11:30 a.m. |
Weaponization of the FCC and Other Agencies to Chill Speech
We'll discuss how the FCC and other agencies have
changed their policies in ways that chill normally protected speech.
TJ Mihill (moderator), Rich Gatz, Matthew Lane, Sarah Philips, Lee Tien
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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1:00 p.m. |
AI Chatbots and Privacy
AI chatbots open a world of knowledge, but information flows in both directions. What are the privacy implications of chat sessions, as AI learns from your conversation?
Tatiana Rice, Kurt Opsahl (moderator), Rich Gatz, Matthew Lane, Heidi Tandy
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD
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2:30 p.m. |
The Fight Against Massive Data Centers
As investment in Artificial Intelligence grows explosively, the demand for large data centers to support needed computer power is rapidly increasing. Not everyone wants these in their neighborhood. We'll take a look at how neighbors are fighting unwanted construction.
Xavier Ashe (moderator), Andrew Greenberg, Kurt Opsahl, Andrew Karl Hirsch
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD
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4:00 p.m. |
Can You Copyright a “Vibe”?
The case of Gifford v. Sheil explores whether elements of style and "vibe" can be copyrighted. What was the outcome, and what is the implication for content creators?
Meredith Filak Rose (moderator), Andrew Greenberg, Cory Scott Rosenberger, Courtney Lytle, TJ Mihill
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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5:30 p.m. |
Copyright 101
How does copyright work? Do you have to register to protect your rights? Can you do it yourself, or do you need an attorney? What do you do if you discover infringement of your own copyright?
Courtney Lytle
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD
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7:00 p.m. |
Political Effects of Journalism Paywalls
As online papers have moved away from the free content model, paywalls have become increasingly common. What are the unintended effects, including political effects, now that paywalls are spreading to many independent news sites?
Meredith Filak Rose, TJ Mihill (moderator), James P. Nettles, Greg Hodgin
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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8:30 p.m. |
Meshing Around with Meshtastic
For less than $100, in some cases less than $20, you too can buy a node, which gets you on the mesh! What is Meshtastic, how does it work, and what kind of reach can you expect with a low-cost device?
Andrew Karl Hirsch, Wehooper, Scott M. Jones (moderator), Todd Grady
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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10:00 p.m. (4+ Hours) |
Hacking 201
Q&A from our panel of experts; play “Stump the Hacker”!
Dustin Smith (moderator), Bill Budington, Rich Gatz, Xavier Ashe, David Formby, Jeremy Wagner, Buddy Smith
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
Monday, September 1, 2025
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Time |
Program |
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10:00 a.m. |
Understanding the Police Abolition Movement for Non-Abolitionists
The modern police abolition movement started with the reaction to the Attica Prison Riot in 1971, where 43 men died. We'll discuss what it means, where the name comes from, and how it is affecting public safety activism today.
Cory Scott Rosenberger, Nash Sheard, Sarah Philips, Scott M. Jones (moderator)
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD
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11:30 a.m. |
The Science of Security
What keeps your messages safe? How do common software vulnerabilities work? Our panel of computer scientists and security experts will discuss how security works from a scientific perspective. We will talk about common attacks, cryptography, and how scientists study computer security.
Andrew Karl Hirsch (moderator), Isaac Sheff, Xavier Ashe
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD
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1:00 p.m. |
Legal and Constitutional Problems with the Take It Down Act
The Take It Down Act was created to address non-consensual intimate imagery, including deepfakes. The tight timelines and lax standards of the law could lead to censorship of otherwise lawful content. No protections exist against abuse of this law.
Tatiana Rice (moderator), TJ Mihill, Matthew Lane, Heidi Tandy
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD
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2:30 p.m. |
Cryptography 101
A quick summary of different types of classical ciphers, how they are made, and how they can be cracked.
Elonka Dunin
Hilton Room 313-314, Attendance: TBD |
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Last Updated on Monday, 25 August 2025 11:53 |
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