Open Rights Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Type | non-profit organization |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005, UK |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Industry | Law |
| Website | www.openrightsgroup.org |
The Open Rights Group (ORG) is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues, acting as a media clearinghouse service putting journalists in touch with experts, and by fostering a community of grassroots activists. It campaigns against digital rights management (DRM), the extension of the term of copyright protection afforded to sound recordings, e-voting, as well as numerous other issues.
Contents |
[edit] History
The organisation was started by Danny O'Brien, Cory Doctorow, Ian Brown, Rufus Pollock, James Cronin, Stefan Magdalinski, Louise Ferguson and Suw Charman after a panel discussion at Open Tech 2005 [1] illustrated that there was both interest and support for a UK-based digital rights organisation.
Immediately after the panel discussion, O'Brien created a pledge on PledgeBank, placed on July 23, 2005, with a deadline of December 25, 2005: "I will create a standing order of 5 pounds per month to support an organisation that will campaign for digital rights in the UK but only if 1,000 other people will too." The pledge reached 1000 people on 29 November 2005[2],[3].
Just as the pledge reached maturity, the organisation launched at a "sell-out"[4] meeting in Soho, London[5]. The same day controversial plans to surveil British road users as part of a new road taxation scheme were featured on the front page of The Times[6].
The group has made submissions to the All Party Internet Group (APIG) inquiry into digital rights management[7],[8] and the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property[9],[10].
In 2008 the Open Rights Group was honoured in the Privacy International Big Brother Awards alongside No2ID, Liberty, Genewatch UK and others recognise the efforts of campaigners to keep state and corporate mass surveillance at bay[11].
[edit] Goals
- To raise awareness in the media of digital rights abuses.
- To provide a media clearinghouse, connecting journalists with experts and activists.
- To preserve and extend traditional civil liberties in the digital world.
- To collaborate with other digital rights and related organisations.
- To nurture a community of campaigning volunteers, from grassroots activists to technical and legal experts.
[edit] Areas of interest
The organisation, though focused on the impact of digital technology on the liberty of UK citizens, operates with an apparently wide range of interests within that category. Its interests include[12][13]:
[edit] Access to knowledge
- Copyright
- The public domain
- Free and open source software
- Creative Commons
- Digital Restrictions Management
- Software patents
- Crown copyright
[edit] Government and democracy
[edit] Privacy, surveillance and censorship
- Automatic Vehicle Tracking
- Police DNA Records
- NHS patients’ medical database
- Communications data retention
- Identity management
- RFID
- Net Neutrality
[edit] Structure
[edit] Patron
[edit] Staff
- Jim Killock, Executive Director
- Michael Holloway, Operations Manager
- Gavin Hill, Campaigns Officer
[edit] Board members
- William Heath, Chair
- Louise Ferguson Vice Chair
- James Cronin, Company Secretary and Treasurer
- Simon Collister
- David Harris
- Ben Laurie
- Harry Metcalfe
- Danny O'Brien
- Rufus Pollock
- Vijay Sodiwala
[edit] Advisory council
- Richard Allan
- Owen Blacker
- Nicholas Bohm
- Ian Brown
- John Buckman
- Michelle Childs
- Richard Clayton
- Tom Coates
- Alan Cox
- Grahame Davies
- Cory Doctorow
- Lilian Edwards
- Wendy Grossman
- Ben Hammersley
- Jason Kitcat
- Paula Le Dieu
- Stefan Magdalinski
- Kevin Marks
- Desiree Miloshevic
- Keith Mitchell
- Dave Rowntree
- David Weinberger
- Jonathan Zittrain
[edit] References
- ^ Open Tech 2005 schedule, 23 July 2005
- ^ www.pledgebank.com/rights, July 23, 2005 – December 25, 2005
- ^ Getting out more, Danny O'Brien's blog post floating the idea and advertising the pledge
- ^ ORG digital rights event update, Open Rights Group blog, November 29, 2005
- ^ Invitation to attend ‘Digital Rights in the UK: Your Rights, Your Issues’, Open Rights Group blog, November 16, 2005
- ^ Congestion charge to be rolled out nationwide, The Times, November 29, 2005
- ^ MPs in digital downloads warning, BBC News Online, 4 June 2006
- ^ ORG submission to the APIG inquiry into DRM, Open Rights Group wiki, January 3, 2006
- ^ Chancellor announces intellectual property review, HM Treasury press release, 2 December 2005
- ^ ORG submission to the Gowers Review, Open Rights Group wiki, May 30, 2006
- ^ Big Brother Awards UK 2008, December 12, 2008
- ^ ORG issues and interests, Open Rights Group website, last visited 30 May 2008
- ^ Digital rights issues, Open Rights Group website, last visited 30 May 2008
- ^ a b About ORG, Open Rights Group website, last visited 19 December 2008
[edit] See also
- Internet censorship
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Digital Rights Ireland
- Electronic Frontiers Australia
- Electronic Frontier Canada
[edit] External links
- Open Rights Group website
- BBC:UK digital rights group sets up
- Guardian: The right to digital freedom
- zdnet: Digital rights group to fight data retention
- Sound Copyright petition
- Release the Music
- Creative Business in the Digital Era
