Julian Assange draws a big SXSW crowd, which quickly loses interest

FORTUNE -- The South by Southwest festival is known for long lines to get into parties, panels, taxis and restaurants. But rarely is there a long line to leave a room.

That's what happened this afternoon, during a keynote interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

For the past two years, the SXSW Interactive festival has been evolving its reputation as more than a place for big social media apps to "break out." Last year, the festival focused on nerdier tech and science themes like 3D printing and space exploration. This year, there is an emphasis on politics and privacy, with keynotes from Assange and Edward Snowden.

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The controversial and outspoken anti-censorship advocate drew a crowd of approximately 5,000, packing almost every seat in auditorium. The problem? He wasn't actually there in person. (He has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012; the British government has been seeking to extradite him for a year.) Assange connected to Austin via Skype, and there were technical glitches. On first ring he didn't answer.

After a rocky logistical start, the interview began slowly, with softball questions like, "How did you start Wikileaks?" Despite that, Assange managed to offer a few choice Tweet-able sound bytes, such as:

"There has been a militarization of our civil space, an occupation of our civilian space."

"The best way to achieve justice is to expose injustice."

and

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Julian Assange draws a big SXSW crowd, which quickly loses interest