As the winter snows begin to melt, revealing a landscape full of promise and hope, a hacker’s thoughts turn to flights of fancy: specifically, the thought of being in Las Vegas during the last weekend in July.

If you’re one of those hackers and you love digital freedom, EFF would like your help spreading the word about our efforts to protect and defend coders’ rights by encouraging your friends and neighbors to join you in supporting us. In return, EFF wants to help the best EFFvangelists enjoy Defcon 18 in style!

Just register for the Defcon Getaway Fundraising Contest and receive a personalized referral link to send your friends and family. (Registration is free; please don’t spam.) If your invitees become EFF members, you will be credited the amount they donate through the link. The contestant to raise the most money for EFF between now and June 30, 2010, will win:

- two Defcon 18 Human badges;

- a standard room at the Riviera Hotel for the nights of July 29-31;

- two tickets to the Vegas 2.0 Party at the Top of the Riv on July 29;

- two tickets to the iSEC Partners Party, location and date TBD; and

- two badges to the Ninja Networks Party, location TBD, on July 31.

The second place winner will receive two Defcon 18 Human badges, two tickets to the Vegas 2.0 Party, and two tickets to the iSEC Partners Party; the third place winner will receive one Defcon 18 Human badge, one ticket to the Vegas 2.0 Party, and one ticket to the iSEC Partners Party. All winners will receive an EFF Swag Super Pack, including EFF stickers, hats, posters, and more!

You can join with others to form a fundraising team, of course. Your team will have to figure out on its own how to distribute the prizes after we award them to the team captain.

Airfare and other travel expenses are not included, and winners remain responsible for all incidental costs. All contestants must be 21 years of age or older. Additional rules apply, please see the Official Rules for details. Donations may be tax-deductible as allowed by law, and referred donors will receive tax acknowledgment letters for their donations.

Many thanks to Dark Tangent and Defcon for providing the room and Defcon badges, Vegas 2.0 and iSEC Partners for providing the party tickets and Ninja Networks for providing the Ninja Party badges!

To register for this contest, click here.