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OWNI erected its tent at the Chaos Communication Camp this year for five days. Where? In an ancient Soviet military base, complete with airplanes and an open air museum. 3,500 hackers were expected for what is known to be the largest assembly of the kind in Europe. Here’s a collection of the best of OWNI’s interviews from these five days in the heart of hackerdom.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir: “Keep the freedom of information what it should be: free.”

The Icelandic deputy Birgitta Jónsdóttir is the backbone behind the Icelandic Media Modernization Initiative (IMMI), a resolution that aims to make Iceland into a paradise for freedom of expression.

Macro: “I hope that being part of a hackerspace will no longer be so underground.”

Created in 1995 in Berlin, the C-Base was one of the first hackerspaces in the world, even if it has begun to think of itself as more of a makerspace. 350 members strong, it hosts CCC events and artistic performances. We look under the tent with Marco, their current “chief.”

Mitch Altman : “The hackerspace network is going to change the world like never before”

A historic hacker figure, founder of San Francisco Noisebridge and creator of TV be gone (a universal remote control for television), Mitch Altman animated numerous workshops during CCC11. OWNI got a chance to talk with him outside of a welding workshop for kids.

John Gilmore

Free software pioneer, John Gilmore is also one of the co-founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), on of the first organizations to defend net neutrality. He also presented himself in court to fight against air passenger surveillance measures that were implemented by the U.S. authorities under the guise of antiterrorism.

Okhin, from Telecomix

Okhim is a member of Telecomix, which has gained notoriety for helping Tunisians and Egyptians connect to the Internet, via old-fashioned dial-up modems when the respective authorities cut access to the Internet and mobile phone networks during the Arab Spring.

Rop Gonggrijp : “A dream come true”

James Carlson founded School Factory, an non-profit American association that “constructs communities that create values and transform educational spaces.” Hackerspaces, makerspaces, co-operative spaces: with School Factory, the hacker spirit lives in the hearts and minds of our youth.