*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 morehttp://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2012/digital-economy-act-costs-order-debate-pulled *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 analysishttp://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 rightshttp://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-weekand 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@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 Practicehttp://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/response-to-the-ico-consultation-on-the-draft-anonymisation-code-of-practice

Midatahttp://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/response-to-the-midata-consultation Digital Economy Act Sharing of Costs Orderhttp://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/response-to-ofcoms-consultation-on-the-digital-economy-act-sharing-of-costs-order

*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 8EBhttp://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2012/09/27/esrc-festival-of-social-science-cippm-event-what-constitutes-evidence-for-copyright-policy-programme-confirmed/

*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 3DDhttp://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CCsQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk%2Fforums%2Fagenda%2Fcopyright-agenda.pdf&ei=qWKFUO-MF4jL0QWrzID4Aw&usg=AFQjCNE9ZW2-DqI2gB7caV0WnAHHiAzCOA&sig2=Ia2B4XYy8k1-iCpCFZDlgg

*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, Londonhttp://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, Azerbaijanhttp://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/content/article/114-preparatory-process/927-igf-2012

*Open Up!* 13 November Javier Ruiz speaking on transparency and open government. London Symphony Orchestra's Jerwood Hall, Old Streethttp://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 Theatrehttp://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 listhttp://action.openrightsgroup.org/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=1422&ea.campaign.id=6660| Join ORG http://www.openrightsgroup.org/join