Open Rights Group

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Open Rights Group

URL = http://openrightsgroup.org/

Description

Becky Hogge:

" A grass-roots advocacy organisation, ORG campaigns for civil and consumer rights in the field of digital technology. It was ORG, along with other NGOs across Europe, that encouraged people to write to their MEPs urging them to pass an amendment to legislation that would properly protect your rights online (they passed it). For UK citizens, that task was made easier by WriteToThem.com, which allows you to contact your MEP in a few easy clicks.

ORG itself was founded using another online tool - PledgeBank - to conduct a virtual whip-round of individuals willing to fund a digital-rights advocacy campaign. After 1,000 people had promised to stump up £5 per month, those who had tasked themselves with setting up the organisation felt confident enough to give it their best shot. And even though not all those 1,000 people made good on their promise (if you'd like to make up the difference and join our community, visit www. openrightsgroup.org/org-gro) enough of them did that the group was able to make more of an impact, and more quickly, than most NGOs could dream of doing.

Naturally, this is partly because the issues that ORG campaigns on - privacy, access to knowledge, digital free expression, like the issues I've tried to shed light on in this column - are the issues of the moment. There is no question that the next century will be defined by the decisions we make now about how to talk about, engage with and regulate this fascinating new technology.

But another small factor in this is the technology itself. The geek community that funds ORG is in the right place to warn of the threats new technology poses, but also to take early advantage of the opportunities it presents. This should signal to Guardans and other elected officials that more organisations as vocal and effective as ORG are just around the corner." (http://www.newstatesman.com/scitech/2008/10/digital-rights-org-technology)


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