*The Digital Economy Act limps on – Government demands
£20 to prove your innocence. *
Two important bits of the Digital Economy Act were republished by Ofcom in
the summer - and despite Ofcom having had two years to work on them,
fundamental problems remain. Crucially people accused of infringement will
have to pay £20 to appeal the accusation. The fee is refunded if your
appeal is upheld, but the aim is to deliberately prevent innocent people
from appealing.
The Act still puts public Wi-Fi provision at risk because Wi-Fi providers
may be liable for their customers' alleged infringement.
The Lords will shortly be debating whether to approve the charges. The
Digital Economy Act is a mess of a law: expensive, error-ridden and
unlikely to work. It needs repealing.
Read more<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2012/digital-economy-act-costs-order-de…>
*ORG fights Snoopers’ Charter *
ORG ran two sessions this year on the Communications Data Bill at the Lib
Dem and Labour conferences, working with Big Brother Watch and Index on
Censorship. ORG supporters leafleted all three Conferences - a big thank
you to everyone who helped!
It was a great opportunity to talk to MPs about the Comms Data Bill. We
found the Labour MPs bogged down in details about costs, but unconcerned
about the essential right to privacy. The Conservative and Lib Dem
conference sessions recognised the fundamental issues; all speakers
acknowledged the need for lawful access, and were concerned with how gaps
in data might be reasonably dealt with. However this is not enough.
Please challenge your MP <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/cdb> by
telling them that the CDB is not a “technical issue” or one with only
practical concerns: it is a civil liberties battle.
*More social media arrests*
In the last few weeks Matthew Woods was given 12 weeks for posting jokes
about April Jones. Azhar Ahmed was given a community order for posting very
stupid comments about soldiers. Offensive as they were, these words should
not be landing people in jail.
Section 127 (1) of the Communications Act 2003 is aimed at 'public
communications networks’, a broadly drawn target. These cases are just more
examples in a string of social media prosecutions. Read our further
analysis<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2012/dont-make-me-laugh>
.
*ORGZine celebrates
*
Alongside our main website ORG run a magazine for discussion and debate on
digital rights issues.
In the last month there were some big celebrations related to the digital
world. Last week on ORGZine we celebrated Ada Lovelace Day, where Milena
Popova wrote about some of the great women in digital
rights<http://zine.openrightsgroup.org/features/2012/ada-lovelace-day-a-celebration>.
During Banned Books Week, we ran a piece about how the reasons we protest
library book bans are the same reasons we should be protesting about online
censorship <http://zine.openrightsgroup.org/features/2012/banned-book-week>and
discussing why they are seen as different issues.
New writers and discussion are always welcome! If you have an idea for a
topic or want to write, get in touch with our editor, on
orgzine.editor(a)openrightsgroup.org
You're not alone.
Without your donations, we would not be able to continue our campaigns.
That's why we would like to *ask you* to support us against government and
corporate actions limiting your digital rights. Please join
today!<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/join>
Find us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/openrightsgroup>
Follow us on Twitter <http://twitter.com/openrightsgroup>
*News in Brief*
ORG's consultation responses are now available:
The Draft Anonymisation Code of
Practice<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/response-to-the-ico-consulta…>
Midata<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/response-to-the-midata-consu…>
Digital Economy Act Sharing of Costs
Order<http://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/response-to-ofcoms-consultat…>
*ORG Out and About *
*Festival of Social Sciences* 8 November
Peter Bradwell speaking on what is useful evidence for IP policy.
Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth, BH8
8EB<http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2012/09/27/esrc-festival-of-social-…>
*Westminster Forum: Copyright regulation and combating piracy in the UK and
Europe *20th November 12.15
Peter Bradwell will be discussing increasing legal access to content and
copyright reform.
ICO Conference Centre, 22 Berners Street, London W1T
3DD<http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ve…>
*Copyright Wars: content, technology and the internet *22 November
A seminar looking at issues facing copyright. Peter Bradwell will be
speaking alongside representatives from Disney, Warner Bros and Everything
Everywhere.
The Lincoln Centre, 18 Lincoln's Inn Fields,
London<http://www.twobirds.com/English/Events/Pages/copyrightwars23nov.Aspx>
*Internet Governance Forum* 6 - 9 November
Jim Killock speaking on Internet filtering and child protection and Javier
Ruiz will be speaking on Open Data and government accountability.
Baku, Azerbaijan<http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/content/article/114-preparatory-pr…>
*Open Up!* 13 November
Javier Ruiz speaking on transparency and open government.
London Symphony Orchestra's Jerwood Hall, Old
Street<http://lso.co.uk/jerwood-hall>
*ORG Meetings*
*ORGManchester *7 November 19.00
ORG Manchester are hosting a public debate with by-election candidates and
some local figures in the digital community, offering an opportunity to
quiz them on their views of issues effecting one of Manchester's largest
industries.
The Dancehouse Theatre<http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10+Oxford+Rd%2C+Manchester>,
10 Oxford Road, Manchester
*ORG Supporter London *19 November 18.45
Is it an offense to cause offense and are your bits offensive? A look at
section 127.
Venue TBC, details here <http://www.meetup.com/ORG-London/events/74016342/>
*ORGNorth-East *11 November 3.30
Introduction to ORG North-East and a talk on the economics of copyright.
Star & Shadow, Stepney Bank, NE1 2NP
* *
Follow us on Twitter <http://twitter.com/openrightsgroup> | Find us on
Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/openrightsgroup>
*Contents CC-BY-SA <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/licence> Open Rights
Group 2011 *
*Our mailing address is:*
11 Marshalsea Road, Borough, London SE1 1EN
We need your help <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/volunteer> to fight for
your rights and to keep the web open and free.
Unsubscribe from this
list<http://action.openrightsgroup.org/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.i…>|
Join
ORG <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/join>
--
*Jon Davies - Chief Executive Wikimedia UK*. Mobile (0044) 7803 505 169
tweet @jonatreesdavies
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
Telephone (0044) 207 065 0990.
Visit http://www.wikimedia.org.uk/ and @wikimediauk
Dear All,
Wikimedia UK is located in a building that we are sharing with ca. 20 other
charities. In May we delivered a short presentation to them talking about
Wikimedia UK and Wikipedia, and there was a lot of interest in learning to
edit. This would be particularly interesting as the charities in the
building all tackle very different issues, so their interests will be quite
varied.
We have set up another drop-in style editing event in our office on
Thursday 1 November, 11am - 4pm, and it would be great if you could attend
to give 1-1 introduction sessions to anyone that will be interested in
learning. For more information and to sign up please visit
*
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ethical_Properties_Wikipedia_Workshop/November…
*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ethical_Properties_Wikipedia_Workshop/November…>
We would be able to reimburse reasonable travel and lunch costs.
Best wishes,
Daria
--
Daria Cybulska - Events Organiser, Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 207 065 0994
+44 7803 505 170
--
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
Hello everyone,
I thought I'd drop you a line to let you know that Wikimedia UK has just
published its latest blog post. The post is a message to our community from
the Board of Trustees.
You can find the blog post at
http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/a-message-from-the-wikimedia-uk-board/
As ever, please do feel free to get in touch with your comments.
Thanks and regards,
Stevie
--
Stevie Benton
Communications Organiser
Wikimedia UK+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
@StevieBenton
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited, a Company
Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No.
6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor,
Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United
Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation
(who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal
control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
4th Birthday bash, with cake? See
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/63
December meeting - note change of pub!
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/64
*****
There has been a lot of talk about the pros and cons of Penderel's Oak,
so in December 2012, we will try Shakespeare's Head (that is a scheduled
and pre-announced change of venue).
Both pubs are Wetherspoons and are a few minutes walk from Holborn Tube
Station.
Neither of the meetings appear for me on geonotices!
Gordo
Hello everyone,
Thought you might like to see our latest blog post about WikiProject:
Medicine.
http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/bringing-evidence-based-medicine-to-th…
The post was written by Wikimedia UK Associate Dr Martin Poulter.
As ever, do get in touch with any comments or questions.
Thanks,
Stevie
--
Stevie Benton
Communications Organiser
Wikimedia UK+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
@StevieBenton
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited, a Company
Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No.
6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor,
Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United
Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation
(who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal
control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
--
Stevie Benton
Communications Organiser
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
@StevieBenton
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited, a Company
Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No.
6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor,
Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United
Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation
(who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal
control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
Hi all,
If you're a student or staff at the University of Oxford, you might
like to know that they're organizing an editathon at the Radcliffe
Science Library on 26th October.
Building on the Royal Society event tomorrow, it's focusing on women in science:
http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk/detail/ENGR
If you've any questions, please let me know and I'll pass them on to
the organisers.
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk
I have problem with geonotices. I cannot see them.... (in my watchlist).
Tried Chrome on Ubuntu, Firefox on a Mac, and still I cannot see them.
My IP address is clearly in the UK range (in London, I believe).
I have tried different skins, added some CSS, created a new account.
Still no luck.
Any thoughts? Am I the only one?
Gordo
Dear all,
It's Ada Lovelace Day on 16 October and it's most suitable for Wikimedia UK
to get involved. The day exists to celebrate the contributions of women in
the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As you may
know, Ada Lovelace is considered the first programmer, due to her work on
Charles Babbage's analytical engine. As such, she's someone we can very
much hold up as a role model. Wikimedia UK is organising a Women in Science
themed editing event for Ada Lovelace Day on* Friday 19 October* 2012 and
would like to invite you to attend!
We have organised a group 'Edit-a-thon' to improve Wikipedia articles about
women in science, held at the Royal Society's library, London, 2:30-6pm. We
had a very high response from the academic community, and we filled many
more spaces than expected! However, there are still a couple of places free
for people who would like to help train new contributors - please get in
touch if you are interested. There will also be opportunities to get
involved online, which we will publish at our Wikimedia UK event's
page<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace_Day_2012>(see below).
Following the Edit-a-thon there will be an panel discussion with Uta Frith
from the Royal Society and other female scientists on women in science (the
focus will be much broader than just the representation of the topic on
Wikipedia). The panel discussion will take place from* 6:30pm - 8:00pm, *and
you are most welcome to attend - there are still free places available, so
please feel free to register here
*http://royalsociety.org/events/2012/wikipedia-workshop/*
Wikimedia UK also has a page for the event, which you can see here
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace_Day_2012
Hope to see many of you there.
Best,
Daria
--
Daria Cybulska - Events Organiser, Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 207 065 0994
+44 7803 505 170
--
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*