Peter Watts lives in Toronto and has received press primarily for two things. The first is his bold decision to make the vast majority of his work (including both Blindsight and “The Island”) available for free online under a Creative Commons license. The second is an altercation he was involved in crossing the Canada–United States Border in December 2009. It was in the aftermath of his trial, which resulted in a felony conviction for obstruction, that he gave AE this interview. At the time, “The Island” was a nominee for a Hugo Award, an honour it has since won.