Holy crap, these are good comments. I agree that it's impractical to build a new net from scratch, but there's some really good work arounds here from cabalamat, wiseweasel, sfphotoarts, and others.

What other ways can we increase Internet freedoms working with existing infrastructure? What other legal and technical work arounds are there?

Sell classifieds that promote events and appearances related to SXSW. Distribute submitted ads to other outlets that take event information for free locally and beyond. You provide a one stop shop for speakers, companies, musicians, etc. who want to get information out about their appearances and events in a cost effective and convenient way.