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2008 Colloquium on the Law of Futuristic Persons Writing Competition

Deadline: Track A or Track B September 20, 2008.

2008 4th Annual Colloquium on the Law of Futuristic Persons Writing Competition

Call for Papers

Terasem Movement, Inc.
Space Coast, Florida

Eligibility

Any person enrolled in an accredited law school during 2008.

Costs

The chosen participant(s) will receive a $1,000 honorarium plus all related travel and lodging to/from the Colloquium in Florida.

Requirements

Track A: Interested participants must submit, no later than September 10, 2008, a 6,000-10,000 word (including footnotes) analysis of the legal rights and obligations of futuristic persons, also known as Transbemans. "Transbeman" is defined as a being who claims to have the rights and obligations associated with humans, but is beyond currently accepted notions of legal personhood. (Examples would include a computer claiming to be conscious; a person successfully revived from post-mortem cryoric biostasis; or a person's downloaded cyberconsciousness in a bionano body).

Track B: Interested participants must submit, no later than September 10, 2008, a 4,000-6,000 word (including footnotes) appellate brief in support or in opposition to the December 10th, 2005/2006 mock trial rulings in the matter of the BINA48 intelligent computer. Further details on the BINA48 Petition, as well as a webcast and transcripts of the mock trials, are accessible at: http://www.kurzweilai.net/ (the 2003 California case); http://www.terasemcentral.org/TL/BINA48trial.html (the 2005 Florida case), and for the 2006 Alabama case: http://www.terasemcentral.org/TL/2006ColloquiumProgram.html. Information is forthcoming for the 2007 BINA48 Mock Competency Hearing. Notification & Conditions: Selected participant(s) will be notified by October 10, 2008, and are expected to orally present a summary of their paper or brief at the Colloquium. Selected papers and briefs will be published in the Colloquium's online archive.

Submissions & Further Information: Contact: Terasem Movement, Inc.
P.O. Box 372869
Satellite Beach, Florida 32937
Phone: 321-676-3690 ext. 100 Fax: 321-676-3691
Email: lori@terasemcentral.org. Website: http://www.terasemcentral.org