Little Brother - Burmese Cover

When brave people risk their lives for the greater good. When they’re accidentally giving an aggressive military a full roadmap to their extended contacts and friends, it’s unfortunate. Given Facebook’s recent breach of trust, allowing for more private data to leak out than people are comfortable with, there has been a growth in people knowing about their digital rights. This 21st century literacy is crucial.

But in places where data leakage is most risky, I’ve found that it’s also least understood. Cory Doctorow’s “Little Brother” is a compelling book about a teen and his friends who use technology to challenge an authoritarian regime. Using real-life technologies, the book is more than a thrilling story, but it can also become a viral training manual for activists who need to use technology to do their work and can start to do so more securely and effectively.

If you haven’t read the book yourself, I recommend buying a copy or downloading one for free to see what all the fuss is about. Why free? He talks about the benefits of publishing for free online over at the Guardian.

Thanks to all those that supported our Kickstarter campaign, I’m happy to bring to you the first in what will be our serialized release of “Little Brother” in Kachin, Karen and Burmese languages. To our partners at ABITSU for the translation. And thanks to Jonathan P. Berger for his cover design and overall inspiration.

Comments and questions from you are always appreciated. Our question is, when “Big Brother” is watching, who is watching back? This is another step towards answering it.

Little Brother - Kachin Cover

Little Brother - Karen Cover

We used Kickstarter to run the campaign and we’re extremely happy with the results. Kickstarter is a funding platform that includes rewards for people who back the project, a way to send frequent updates, and an all-or-nothing deadline that encourages people to contribute in order to guarantee a project’s success.

We are so grateful to our backers! Thanks for making the project a success.

$5.00 and up — A shoutout on Twitter & in a thank you blog post & an invite to Digital Democracy’s Birthday Party

Sam Gregory, Charles Lenchner, Heather, Jason Kende, Chrysm Watson Ross, Pete Young, Yancey Strickler, Cristina Moon, Enigma Images, Liz Wall, Martha Jackson, Frank G, Matthew Murphy, Kyle B. Doeden, Jaroslav Valuch, Lara Shortridge, Eunah Choi, David Manheim, Mary Robinette and Patricia Chou.

$25.00 and up — A thank you in the Digital Democracy January newsletter + all of the above

Noel Hidalgo, Sarah Ann Ran, Martin Sutherland, Scott Andrews, Gregg Butensky, Timo Rossi, Ashley Mui and Elizabeth Stucki.

$50.00 and up— Stickers for Digital Democracy Sticker & the All Burma IT Student Union + all of the above

Joe Beshenkovsky, Christine Martin, Alex Shepard, Robert Soden, Carl Rigney, Dietrich Ayala, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Julia Posteraro, Allan Beatty and Kevin Riggle.

$100.00 and up — A copy of the book + all of the above

Jonathan Berger, Ben Babcock, David Cross, Stefan Jones, Brad Weikel, Eric Cooper, the publisher Tor Books and the book’s author, Cory Doctorow.

$250.00 — A video conference call with the Burmese activists/translators + all of the above

Nathan and Laura Arico.

Thanks to 46 backers, we’ve raised 75% of the money we need to translate Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother into four Burmese languages. It’s been amazing to see such support.

But we only have until Dec. 15th at 8pm EST to raise the rest of the amount. Can you chip in and pledge? If we don’t reach our goal, none of the project gets funded.

Special thanks to Patrick Nielsen Hayden, the Editor of Little Brother who posted a blog entry about the project. There have been lively comments, including this one from AndrDrew:

“Wow! I’ll be passing the word along about this project. I’m now wondering what other works would be good candidates.

It’s sad that Amazon’s rules mean non-americans can’t initiate Kickstarter projects. This is one amazing, and potentially game-changing way of fundraising.”

Little Brother tells the inspiring story of a group of courageous teens who take on Big Brother using technology to challenge an authoritarian regime. In September 2007 Burma/Myanmar, monks took to the streets in non-violent protest, using technologies – cell phones and digital cameras – as a means of documenting these protests, the world witnessed the extraordinary power of technology for enabling the flow of information, and as a way for so many citizens to express their struggle living in the country. As these technologies become increasingly available, it is vital that Burmese readers gain knowledge that will enable them to use the technologies they have most effectively.

The funds raised for the campaign will support Burmese activists living in Thailand, India and Bangladesh who will be translating the book into Burmese, Karen, Chin, and Rohingya.

Our campaign will continue through December 15th. Please visit the site today and pledge your support!