- Open Rights Group
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"ORG" redirects here. For other uses, see ORG (disambiguation).
Open Rights Group Abbreviation ORG Formation 2005, UK Type Non-profit organisation Purpose/focus Law, Advocacy, Digital Rights Headquarters London, England Location United Kingdom Staff 4 Website 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, and numerous other issues.
Contents
History
Open Rights Group poster
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] O'Brien created a pledge on PledgeBank, placed on 23 July 2005, with a deadline of 25 December 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] The Open Rights Group was launched at a "sell-out" meeting in Soho, London.[4][5]
Work
The group has made submissions to the All Party Internet Group (APIG) inquiry into digital rights management[6],[7] and the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property[8],[9].
The group was honoured in the 2008 Privacy International Big Brother Awards alongside No2ID, Liberty, Genewatch UK and others, as a recognition of their efforts to keep state and corporate mass surveillance at bay[10].
In 2010 the group worked with 38 Degrees[11] to oppose the introduction of the Digital Economy Act, which was passed in April 2010.[12]
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.
Areas of interest
Stop Disconnection image used by the Open Rights Group during the campaign against the Digital Economy Bill, now the Digital Economy Act 2010The 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[13][14]:
Access to knowledge
- Copyright
- Digital Restrictions Management
- Software patents
- Crown copyright
Government and democracy
Privacy, surveillance and censorship
- Automatic Vehicle Tracking
- Police DNA Records
- NHS patients’ medical database
- Communications data retention
- Identity management
- RFID
- Net Neutrality
Structure
ORG has a paid staff[15], whose members include:
- Jim Killock (Executive Director)
- Peter Bradwell (Campaigner)
- Javier Ruiz Diaz (Campaigner)
Former staff include Suw Charman-Anderson and Becky Hogge, both Executive Directors, e-voting coordinator Jason Kitcat, grassroots campaigner Katie Sutton and administrator Katerina Maniadaki[16]. The group's patron is Neil Gaiman[17]. As of February 2011 they have 22,000 supporters of which 1,400 are paying contributors[18]
Advisory Council and Board of Directors
In addition to staff members and volunteers, there is an advisory panel of over thirty members, and a Board of Directors, which oversees the group's work, staff, fundraising and policy[19]. The current board members are Emma Byrne, Simon Collister, James Cronin, Ben Laurie, Neil McGovern, Harry Metcalfe, Danny O'Brien and Vijay Sodiwala.
ORGCON
ORGCON was the first ever conference dedicated to digital rights in the UK[20], marketed as "a crash course in digital rights". It was held on 24 July 2010 at City University in London and included keynote talks from Cory Doctorow, politicians and similar pressure groups including Liberty, NO2ID and Big Brother Watch.
References
- ^ Open Tech 2005 schedule, 23 July 2005
- ^ www.pledgebank.com/rights, 23 July 2005 – 25 December 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, 29 November 2005
- ^ Invitation to attend ‘Digital Rights in the UK: Your Rights, Your Issues’, Open Rights Group blog, 16 November 2005
- ^ MPs in digital downloads warning, BBC News Online, 4 June 2006
- ^ ORG submission to the APIG inquiry into DRM, Open Rights Group wiki, 3 January 2006
- ^ Chancellor announces intellectual property review, HM Treasury press release, 2 December 2005
- ^ ORG submission to the Gowers Review, Open Rights Group wiki, 30 May 2006
- ^ Big Brother Awards UK 2008, 12 December 2008
- ^ "Controversial UK anti-piracy law finally passed". BBC. 5 April 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/04/who_cares_about_the_digital_ec.html. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ "Controversial UK anti-piracy law finally passed". Telecoms Europe. http://www.telecomseurope.net/content/controversial-uk-anti-piracy-law-finally-passed?section=HEADLINE&utm_source=lyris&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=telecomseurope. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
- ^ 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
- ^ "Open Rights Group Staff". Open Rights Group. http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- ^ "Open Rights Group Former Staff". Open Rights Group. http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/former-staff. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- ^ "Open Rights Group Patron". Open Rights Group. http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/patron. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- ^ Hargreaves Review of IP and Growth "Open Rights Group", 22 February 2011
- ^ "Open Rights Group Board". Open Rights Group. http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/board. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- ^ "ORGCon: London, July 24 – book now!". BoingBoing. 16 June 2010. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/16/orgcon-london-july-2.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
External links
See also
- Digital Rights Ireland
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Electronic Frontiers Australia
- Electronic Frontier Canada
- Internet censorship
- Open Genealogy Alliance
Intellectual property activism Issues and debates Copyright infringement · Criticism of intellectual property · Criticism of patents · Digital rights management · Gripe site · History of music piracy · Mashup videos and music · Public domain · Software patent debateConcepts Movements Organizations Creative Commons · Electronic Frontier Foundation · Free Software Foundation · Open Rights Group · The Pirate Bay · Piratbyrån · Pirate Party · Students for Free CultureDocumentaries Categories:- Computer law
- Copyright law
- Digital media
- Digital rights management
- Internet in the United Kingdom
- Internet privacy
- Intellectual property activism
- Politics and technology
- Politics of the United Kingdom
- Privacy organizations
- Organizations established in 2005
- Public domain
- Radio-frequency identification
- Political pressure groups of the United Kingdom
- Civil liberties advocacy groups
- Intellectual property organizations
- Election and voting-related organizations
- Access to Knowledge movement
- Internet activism
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