Gallery: EFF's Birthday Wish: Let's Skip These Sci-Fi Dystopias

  • Minority Report
    01

    minority-report-2

    What would the world look like if the Electronic Frontier Foundation didn't exist? Perhaps like one of sci-fi cinema's most debilitating dystopias. The nonprofit group has fought hard in the courts, and in the court of public opinion, [for privacy, free speech, innovation and other indispensable digital rights](http://www.eff.org/victories) ever since its 1990 founding by Mitch Kapor and John Perry Barlow. With the [EFF](http://www.eff.org) turning 21 this year, the foundation is staging an [open-bar birthday blowout](https://w2.eff.org/birthday) Wednesday in San Francisco's BAMM.tv studio. The party will feature chiptune and nerdcore artists Doctor Popular, Dual Core, Crashfaster and Trash80, as well as an interactive digital art exhibit. Donations of $30 ($25 for EFF members) are ideal, but no one will get bounced for lack of funds. Those who can't make the party in person can view the [live stream on BAMM.tv](http://www.bamm.tv). To help prep you for the party conversation, Wired.com asked the EFF to name-drop its top nine cinematic dystopias exhibiting what the world might look like, now or later, if nobody fought the good fight for digital rights. Drop your own fearsome futurism in the comments section below. __Above:__ Nightmare Scenario No. 1: Minority Report ----------------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ Predictive crime-analysis technology forecasts an upswing in civil liberties violations.
  • Enemy of the State
    02

    enemy-of-the-state

    Nightmare Scenario No. 2: Enemy of the State -------------------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ Absolute surveillance power corrupts absolutely.
  • Gattaca
    03

    gattaca

    Nightmare Scenario No. 3: Gattaca --------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ Cradle-to-grave government identification systems mean no space travel for you.
  • Brazil
    04

    brazil-2

    Nightmare Scenario No. 4: Brazil -------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ The bureaucracy does not make mistakes.
  • The Matrix
    05

    the-matrix

    Nightmare Scenario No. 5: The Matrix ------------------------------------ __Dystopian readout:__ Don't entrust health care to machines.
  • Soylent Green
    06

    soylent-green

    Nightmare Scenario No. 6: Soylent Green --------------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ Don't leave food security to multinational corporations.
  • I Robot
    07

    i-robot

    Nightmare Scenario No. 7: I, Robot ---------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ Robots should be developed by many companies, not a monopoly. That way, a central computer can't control every robot in the world.
  • Blade Runner
    08

    blade-runner-2

    Nightmare Scenario No. 8: Blade Runner -------------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ If we create sentient nonhumans and make them slaves, they'll kill us.
  • The Terminator
    09

    the-terminator

    Nightmare Scenario No. 9: The Terminator ---------------------------------------- __Dystopian readout:__ Don't build [Skynet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(Terminator)). And don't build anything that can build Skynet.
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